If you recall it was just a couple of weeks ago that President-elect Trump tweeted to ‘cancel’ the new Air Force One purchase from Boeing because it was too expensive.
Today after a meeting with the President-elect, Dennis Muilenburg, the CEO of Boeing stated that he had a “very productive” meeting and promised to produce the new Air Force One “affordably”. President-elect Trump had said in his tweet “costs are out of control, more than 4 billion. Cancel order!” He also spoke recently saying that he would not ride around in a 4 billion dollar airplane.
“We will get it done for less than that,” Muilenburg said after he left Mr. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. “We work on Air Force One because it is important for our country,” he said. “I was able to give the President-elect my personal commitment on behalf of the Boeing Company.”
When asked what the timeline was for a deal, Muilenburg said, “we haven’t actually started the build of the airplane yet, but once we finalize the requirements and make sure that it’s affordable we’ll launch on building the aircraft,” he added. “We’ve got a hot production line and we’re ready to go.” – CBS News
President-elect Trump also met Wednesday with Marillyn Hewson, the CEO of Lockheed Martin who manufactures the F-35 program. The F-35 program had also been a target of one of Mr. Trump’s tweets saying the programs costs were out of control.
After the meetings he said he was working hard to get costs down and that the negotiations with the aerospace CEO’s was “a dance. But we are going to get the costs down and we’re going to get it done beautifully.” The President-elect also said he was very impressed with the people he met with today and that they are “great people.”
Featured Image of Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg leaving Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla after meeting with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump by CARLOS BARRIA/REUTERS