Donald Trump issued a tweet Tuesday morning suggesting the U.S. government should cancel a $4-billion contract with Boeing to produce a new Air Force One.
“Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4 billion. Cancel order!” The U.S. president-elect said on Twitter, although the timing of the tweet seemed odd at first.
Within minutes, the Boeing shares dropped over $2 before experiencing a full recovery by the time markets closed.
Trump spoke to reporters afterward in the lobby of the Trump Tower in New York saying, “the plane is totally out of control. I think it’s ridiculous. I think Boeing is doing a little bit of a number. We want Boeing to make a lot of money but not that much money.”
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Boeing has not actually started to build a new Air Force One but the company says it is currently under contract to determine the requirements of the proposed replacements which are scheduled to come into service in 2024.
“We are currently under contract for $170 million to help determine the capabilities of these complex military aircraft that serve the unique requirements of the President of the United States,” the company said in a statement.
Trump is said to have unloaded shares in Boeing and other companies in June, according to a spokesman, so he did not stand to benefit from the fluctuation. So why did he deliver the message?
CNN’s Jake Tapper pointed to an article on Twitter in which the Chicago Tribune interviewed Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenberg.
The Boeing boss, whose company is the United States’ largest manufacturing exporter, points to the importance of free trade for the American economy, which flies in the face of what Trump is preaching.
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“Last year, we delivered 495 737s from our factory in Renton, Wash., to customers around the world. One in every three of those 737s were bound for China,” he told the newspaper. “And about a quarter of all our airplane deliveries … were bound for Chinese customers.”