JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — President-Elect Donald Trump held meetings at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Wednesday, talking with a number of generals and admirals as well as the CEOs of Boeing and Lockheed Martin, two companies tasked with significant government contracts.
Trump escorted a number of the generals and admirals out of Mar-a-Lago following their meeting calling them “great people,” adding that they discussed cutting costs for the F-35 program.
“Trying to get costs down cost primarily the F-35 trying to get the costs down cause it’s a program that’s very very expensive,” Trump said when asked about what was discussed in the meetings. “Just beginning its a dance its a little bit of a dance we are going to get the costs down and get it done beautifully — great people, amazing people, I’m very impressed with them and very good negotiators.”
After meeting with President-Elect Donald Trump, Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenberg said that the new Air Force One would be constructed “affordably.”
Regarding the meeting with the CEO of Boeing, Trump said they “are looking to cut a tremendous amount of money off the price.”
Trump made headlines earlier this month when he sent a tweet criticizing the price tag on the project to replace the president’s plane, calling the cost “out of control.” He later told reporters that “we want Boeing to make a lot of money, but not that much money.”
Muilenberg told pool reporters on Wednesday that his meeting with Trump was “very productive,” and confirmed that the price of the new Air Force One was one topic that had been discussed. He added that the new plane could be produced for less than the $4 billion price tag that Trump cited.
“We work on Air Force One because it is important for our country,” Muilenberg said.
There are currently two aircraft that operate as Air Force One, both of which were delivered in 1990. When that fleet retires in 2024, the new planes are expected to enter service. The Air Force projected a five-year cost of the program of about $2.8 billion, with additional costs likely for the actual purchase of the aircraft.
Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff David told ABC News earlier this month that taxpayers should remember “it’s multiple aircraft. And it’s not all Boeing. This is a system that is going to have many different companies that are providing the systems that go on it.”
Trump also spoke with Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn Hewson, who also called the meeting “productive.”
Hewson said that she “appreciated the opportunity to discuss the importance of the F-35 program and the progress we’ve made in bringing costs down.” Calling the plane “a critical program to our national security,” she told the President-Elect that the company was committed to delivering an affordable aircraft to the U.S. military and its allies.
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