Trump interjects himself in Air Force One, business deals

[webfact]

Trump interjects himself in Air Force One, business deals

By JONATHAN LEMIRE

 

NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump, a political newcomer who touts his corporate skills, turned businessman-in-chief Tuesday, first demanding the government cancel a multibillion-dollar order for new presidential planes and then hailing a Japanese company's commitment to invest billions in the U.S.

 

Six weeks before taking office, Trump is telegraphing that he'll take an interventionist role in the nation's economy — as well as play showman when he sees a chance. The celebrity businessman's declaration about Air Force One caused manufacturer Boeing's stock to drop temporarily and raised fresh questions about how his administration — not to mention his Twitter volleys — could affect the economy.

 

"The plane is totally out of control," Trump told reporters in the lobby of Trump Tower. "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." Earlier he had tweeted that the deal's costs were "out of control, more than $4 billion. Cancel order!"

 

Not long after his first appearance, Trump returned to the lobby with Masayoshi Son, the CEO of SoftBank, a massive telecommunications company that counts Sprint among its holdings. Trump pointed proudly to Son's commitment to invest $50 billion in the United States, which Trump said could create 50,000 jobs.

 

Trump — who also tweeted the deal — shook Son's hand and posed for photos, reveling as he had last week when he toured a Carrier plant in Indiana where he said he had instigated an agreement that will preserve about 1,000 jobs the appliance maker had planned to move to Mexico.

 

As for Air Force One, the government has agreed that Boeing will build two new planes, which would go into service around 2024. That means Trump might never fly on the aircraft, which carry U.S. presidents around the globe.

 

The Air Force has pressed for a faster schedule, saying the aging current Boeing 747s are becoming too expensive to repair and keep in good flying shape. The overall deal for researching, developing and building new planes was to be about $3 billion, but costs have been reported to be rising.

 

The General Accountability Office estimated in March that about $2 billion of the total — for work between 2010 and 2020 — was for research and development on complex systems, not for building the actual aircraft. The inflated $4 billion figure Trump cited appears to include operation and maintenance as well.

 

Boeing responded to Trump Tuesday in a statement: "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. We look forward to working with the U.S. Air Force on subsequent phases of the program allowing us to deliver the best planes for the president at the best value for the American taxpayer."

 

The $170 million figure is just for a portion of the research and development efforts.

 

Trump began his onslaught against Boeing at 8:52 a.m., tweeting "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!"

 

That tweet came 22 minutes after The Chicago Tribune posted a story in which the Boeing CEO voiced concerns about Trump's views on trade.

 

The president-elect then descended to the lobby of the Manhattan skyscraper that bears his name to reiterate his case.

 

Trump had tweeted in 2013 that he owned Boeing stock, but a spokesman said Tuesday he sold all of his stock holdings in June. That sale was not publicized by the campaign at the time, and aides did not reveal how much cash it might have generated.

 

If Trump had held onto his stock portfolio, he would have been required to repeatedly file reports with the U.S. Office of Government Ethics. A 2012 update of the Ethics in Government Act obliges presidents and other senior government officials to report such transactions.

 

Trump now uses his own plane, a Boeing 757, which he has outfitted with white leather and gold, a large flat-screen television and a bedroom. But as president it is expected that he would travel aboard the Air Force jet, which is equipped with special safety, defensive and communications equipment. Air Force One also has seating for reporters; Trump generally does not allow the press on his own plane.

 

Late Tuesday, Trump will be using his own 757 to travel to the second stop of his post-election "thank you" tour, in North Carolina, less than a week after an Ohio appearance that felt more like a raucous campaign stop than a traditional speech by a president-to-be.

Retired Gen. James Mattis, who Trump announced as his pick for secretary of defense, at last week's rally, is to appear with Trump at the evening event in Fayetteville.

 

Later this week there will be rallies in Iowa and Michigan. And on Saturday, Trump will attend the 117th annual Army-Navy football game. The game between the two military academies often draws the commander in chief; both Barack Obama and George W. Bush have attended in recent years.

 

Before leaving for North Carolina Tuesday, Trump held a number of meetings in New York, including with Rex Tillerson, the CEO of ExxonMobil; Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, who was meeting about a diplomatic post, and radio host Laura Ingraham who is being considered for press secretary.

___

Associated Press Writers Joseph Pisani in New York and Stephen Braun and Richard Lardner in Washington contributed reporting.

 

-- © Associated Press 2016-12-07

[simple1]

The investment vehicle to be utilised by Softback is co-funded by Saudi Arabia who has poured in US$45 billion. Wonder if the Trumpsters will object.

 

http://www.wsj.com/articles/donald-trump-says-softbank-pledges-to-invest-50-billion-in-u-s-1481053732

 

 

[NongKhaiKid]

Maybe he'll offer to use his own jet as Air Force One and keep his name of the fuselage in case foreign countries don't know who it is arriving.

[maewang99]

poor little Donald, he might not make it to his own Inauguration. 

but if he does we will need a new habit.  to capitalize 'he' whenever referring to the Donald. mark my words.  I'm US.  in fact, I'm a New Yorker as well!  

and whatever you do... whatever you do.... if you are a Trump supporter.... don't look at today's Washington Post.... the NSIDC, just last night, put itself on the S&*t List..... for sure. 

maybe the Post knows something we don't, eh?



 

 

Edited December 7, 2016 by maewang99

[klauskunkel]

1 hour ago, NongKhaiKid said:

Maybe he'll offer to use his own jet as Air Force One and keep his name of the fuselage in case foreign countries don't know who it is arriving.

Trump Force One

[kamahele]

Here is a man, who while owning an old aircraft himself, knows nothing about aircraft and certainly nothing about the requirements that Boeing was given by the Pentagon for building these two aircraft yet he is making broad negative statements because he thought Boeing was critical of him. It's all about his ego. 

[colinneil]

1 minute ago, kamahele said:

Here is a man, who while owning an old aircraft himself, knows nothing about aircraft and certainly nothing about the requirements that Boeing was given by the Pentagon for building these two aircraft yet he is making broad negative statements because he thought Boeing was critical of him. It's all about his ego. 

 

All about his ego, what on earth are you on about??

More like he sees a major aircraft making company trying to rip off American people.

Remember when the Airbus A380 was rejected in favour of Boeing???

That gave Boeing carte blanch to do /charge whatever they want, and the government will just pay up..

 

 

 

 

 

 

[freebyrd]

Personally I would be happier if he did the world a favour and interjected Air Force One into himself.

[Thakkar]

Since Trump won't get to use the planes, no skin off his nose.

 

Meanwhile perfectly ok to spend 1.5m/day ($2.2 billion over 4 years) taxpayer money so wife and kid can remain in NY. A lot of that money will go to Trump because CIA and Secret Service will be leasing his properties.

 

Also, good to know multi billion $ government contractors tracts can be cancelled over twitter with no penalties.

[thaibeachlovers]

About time a president actually stood up for the taxpayer over bloated  and rip off government contracts.

He did say he was going to drain the swamp. Looks like he is off and running on that already. Good job Donald.

 

I note with amusement that the supporters of the loser candidate are all for spending taxpayer money. That is one good reason why the loser candidate lost.

[freebyrd]

Personally I would be happier if he did the world a favour and interjected Air Force One into himself.

[Srikcir]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

the deal's costs were "out of control, more than $4 billion

Only two-three new planes will be built at a cost of $830 million each compared to the 350+ Boeing 757-200 planes sold from 1981-2004 with a 2002 cost of $65-80 million each. Trump's cost for his used 757-200 with his upgrades was reported at under $60 million. http://www.cnbc.com/2016/12/06/as-trump-pushes-back-on-boeing-consider-his-private-jet-cost-a-fraction-of-air-force-one.html

 

Given the propietary state of the art military tech for Air Force One including air refueling capability, shell armor and defensive capability, it is entirely inappropropiate for Trump to compare the cost of his aircraft to the Pentagon's next generation Air Force One.

 

The only thing out of control is Trump's imagination.

[Guest]

Trump is not yet even the president and he is already wrecking US economy and US based businesses.

 

Now we all know that Boing is ripping off their customers. It's best to stick with the Airbus. 

[thaibeachlovers]

5 minutes ago, Srikcir said:

Only two-three new planes will be built at a cost of $830 million each compared to the 350+ Boeing 757-200 planes sold from 1981-2004 with a 2002 cost of $65-80 million each. Trump's cost for his used 757-200 with his upgrades was reported at under $60 million. http://www.cnbc.com/2016/12/06/as-trump-pushes-back-on-boeing-consider-his-private-jet-cost-a-fraction-of-air-force-one.html

 

Given the propietary state of the art military tech for Air Force One including air refueling capability, shell armor and defensive capability, it is entirely inappropropiate for Trump to compare the cost of his aircraft to the Pentagon's next generation Air Force One.

 

The only thing out of control is Trump's imagination.

Only two-three new planes will be built at a cost of $830 million each

So you must believe that will be the final cost .

[kamahele]

This article is why Trump is slamming Boeing, not because he actually knows the true value of the deal as he doesn't. Boeing is nervous that Trump's promised trade war with China will affect their bottom line and the jobs of thousands of Americans who work for Boeing and their sub contractors and suppliers. 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/columnists/ct-boeing-china-trump-robert-reed-1206-biz-20161205-column.html

[Srikcir]

6 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Only two-three new planes will be built at a cost of $830 million each

So you must believe that will be the final cost .

I refer to information in the link. I make no personal judgement as to final cost, particularly since it is no doubt stated in current dollars.

 

What I do believe is that Trump is just winging another economic policy with no fact-finding such as with the Pentagon. The Pentagon recently rejected Trump's request to retrofit his 10-year+ old personal aircraft into an Air Force One  because of prohibited costs and impracticality of converting it to the structural platform required for Air Force One. So this current rant is likely more of a retaliation of his hurt ego. Tweet, tweet 

 

 

[vaultdweller0013]

1 hour ago, colinneil said:

All about his ego, what on earth are you on about??

More like he sees a major aircraft making company trying to rip off American people.

Remember when the Airbus A380 was rejected in favour of Boeing???

That gave Boeing carte blanch to do /charge whatever they want, and the government will just pay up..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To be fair, there was a 0% chance that the US president would have a non-US aircraft as Air Force One. The political fallout would have been huge, like having the US President wearing a big "Made in France" sign everywhere he went. It was only really a question of 777, 787 or stay with the 747. If Boeing was charging too much, the Pentagon could always have gone to Lockheed and gotten a 1-off design.

 

 

 

[elgordo38]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

"The plane is totally out of control," Trump told reporters in the lobby of Trump Tower. "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." Earlier he had tweeted that the deal's costs were "out of control, more than $4 billion. Cancel order!"

Get a bucket of paint Donald and repaint your private jet. Commander In Chief 1

[Andaman Al]

2 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

About time a president actually stood up for the taxpayer over bloated  and rip off government contracts.

He did say he was going to drain the swamp. Looks like he is off and running on that already. Good job Donald.

 

I note with amusement that the supporters of the loser candidate are all for spending taxpayer money. That is one good reason why the loser candidate lost.

So its great for Donald to want to save 1000 jobs from going to Mexico by using tax payers money, but to sustain one of the core industries of the USA is now wrong? This project for the new AirForce 1 platforms involves many thousands of jobs. The project is also highly complex and involves the development of aircraft that resemble a Boeing on the outside but the actual aircraft are far from what they appear. Cutting edge defence systems including anti-missile systems and specialised armour plating, advanced communication systems that would allow the President to run the entire USA and its globally positioned Military from the Air. Air to air refuelling and many capabilities we will and should know nothing about. 4 Billion USD seems to be a bit on the cheap side for the development of two such aircraft.

 

I note with amusement that as a supporter of Trump, you hang on his every word and agree with it without even applying a minute part of reasoning or rationale. Your candidate, if he ever makes it to inauguration, will be impeached, and the earlier the better as he is about to become the biggest embarrassment to the USA in living memory. And YOU support him. Who said that circus was dead, the USA actually elected a reality TV show star as the head of it's Governmental office (emphasis on the mental in Governmental). A man who said he would empty the swamp is filling it with his own swamp monsters while you and his other supporters sit idly by and think it's ok for him and his three little piggies to rape the USA.

[Basil B]

Trump is going to come down hard on big businesses and multi Internationals...

 

Me wonder if that includes his own businesses???

[dunroaming]

Whilst I think Trump was right to question the price of AF1 and kudos to him for that, but by announcing it to the world, Boeing shares immediately drop and their reputation is tarnished.  Now that was just Trump shouting "Look at me!" and just plain stupid.

[Jingthing]

He's a show boater. Typical con man stuff. When those manufacturing jobs that are mostly lost forever don't come back (and health care access for poorer people TRASHED) and trump's republican right wing extremist good buddies in congress trash MEDICARE, we'll see how loud the trumpists are gloating then. 

[Silurian]

This is not your normal 747. This is a heavily modified plane built to protect the POTUS and have a multitude of features (some known, some classified) to assist the POTUS. The child president elect got his ego bruised and in typical fashion spouted off some random trash about something his has no knowledge of. Also, he talks about working with US businesses to keep jobs and manufacturing in America and then turns around and bashes a US company in public. If he has an issue with the cost, then he needs to work with Boeing and the government project side to come up with reasonable costs not just throw some temper tantrum. This child like behavior is becoming tiresome.

 

Mr. Trump: Here’s Why You Really Want to Spend $4 Billion on Air Force One

https://www.wired.com/2016/12/mr-trump-heres-really-want-spend-4-billion-air-force-one/

 

[thaibeachlovers]

5 hours ago, Andaman Al said:

So its great for Donald to want to save 1000 jobs from going to Mexico by using tax payers money, but to sustain one of the core industries of the USA is now wrong? This project for the new AirForce 1 platforms involves many thousands of jobs. The project is also highly complex and involves the development of aircraft that resemble a Boeing on the outside but the actual aircraft are far from what they appear. Cutting edge defence systems including anti-missile systems and specialised armour plating, advanced communication systems that would allow the President to run the entire USA and its globally positioned Military from the Air. Air to air refuelling and many capabilities we will and should know nothing about. 4 Billion USD seems to be a bit on the cheap side for the development of two such aircraft.

 

I note with amusement that as a supporter of Trump, you hang on his every word and agree with it without even applying a minute part of reasoning or rationale. Your candidate, if he ever makes it to inauguration, will be impeached, and the earlier the better as he is about to become the biggest embarrassment to the USA in living memory. And YOU support him. Who said that circus was dead, the USA actually elected a reality TV show star as the head of it's Governmental office (emphasis on the mental in Governmental). A man who said he would empty the swamp is filling it with his own swamp monsters while you and his other supporters sit idly by and think it's ok for him and his three little piggies to rape the USA.

LOL. Everything done by the government is ripped off by the contractors because that is how the contractors get rich at the expense of the taxpayer. The government lackeys that approve the contracts don't care because the taxpayer is footing the bill, and they will probably getting a cushy job with the companies they help out when they retire.

So it goes, and goes, and goes. $640 aircraft toilet seats anyone?

 

If Trump calls a halt to the money train, good on him. Drain that swamp.

[Dagnabbit]

On 12/7/2016 at 10:52 AM, Srikcir said:

Only two-three new planes will be built at a cost of $830 million each compared to the 350+ Boeing 757-200 planes sold from 1981-2004 with a 2002 cost of $65-80 million each. Trump's cost for his used 757-200 with his upgrades was reported at under $60 million. http://www.cnbc.com/2016/12/06/as-trump-pushes-back-on-boeing-consider-his-private-jet-cost-a-fraction-of-air-force-one.html

 

Given the propietary state of the art military tech for Air Force One including air refueling capability, shell armor and defensive capability, it is entirely inappropropiate for Trump to compare the cost of his aircraft to the Pentagon's next generation Air Force One.

 

The only thing out of control is Trump's imagination.

 

Honestly, what you wrote is Hillaryarious.

 

Trump is the man that decimated Republican opposition before decimating the Democrats.

 

You think he did that without doing his homework? Seriously? You still buy into the whole "Forrest Gump" thing? Every time the man makes a move, people say he did so without info - then it turns out that he was right all along.

 

The move with Taiwan was orchestrated. This move with Boeing is orchestrated. A new 747-8 costs less than $340m. The projected $4mb price tag is very real and VERY overpriced.

 

Yet you - with absolutely <deleted> all information have deemed it "inappropropiate" (whatever that means) for Trump to compare costs. PMSL. Look - Trump is obviously a man that does his research. You on the other hand, well - haters gotta hate.

[Dagnabbit]

10 hours ago, kamahele said:

Here is a man, who while owning an old aircraft himself, knows nothing about aircraft and certainly nothing about the requirements that Boeing was given by the Pentagon for building these two aircraft yet he is making broad negative statements because he thought Boeing was critical of him. It's all about his ego. 

 

You do not know that.

 

What we do know is that Donald is privvy to more info than you are...

[Andaman Al]

19 hours ago, Dagnabbit said:

 

Honestly, what you wrote is Hillaryarious.

 

Trump is the man that decimated Republican opposition before decimating the Democrats.

 

You think he did that without doing his homework? Seriously? You still buy into the whole "Forrest Gump" thing? Every time the man makes a move, people say he did so without info - then it turns out that he was right all along.

 

The move with Taiwan was orchestrated. This move with Boeing is orchestrated. A new 747-8 costs less than $340m. The projected $4mb price tag is very real and VERY overpriced.

 

Yet you - with absolutely <deleted> all information have deemed it "inappropropiate" (whatever that means) for Trump to compare costs. PMSL. Look - Trump is obviously a man that does his research. You on the other hand, well - haters gotta hate.

You have no idea about aircraft or aircraft development and the costs involved. So, don't comment as if you do know, it is that simple. Trump is completely wrong concerning his comments about the new AF1 aircraft. He just wants to use his own so he can lease it to the US Government for 100 Mill a year. Soon you will see the Criminal in Chief for what he truly is, and when you are old and wrinkly and your grandchildren ask if you supported that terrible man Trump you will look them in the eyes and lie like a true Trump supporter and say "no you were always against the ghastly man".

[Silurian]

25 minutes ago, Andaman Al said:

You have no idea about aircraft or aircraft development and the costs involved. So, don't comment as if you do know, it is that simple. Trump is completely wrong concerning his comments about the new AF1 aircraft. He just wants to use his own so he can lease it to the US Government for 100 Mill a year. Soon you will see the Criminal in Chief for what he truly is, and when you are old and wrinkly and your grandchildren ask if you supported that terrible man Trump you will look them in the eyes and lie like a true Trump supporter and say "no you were always against the ghastly man".

 

Let him use his own aircraft and when it gets blown out of the sky since it has no defensive counter measures...oh well, no big loss. Oops, missing that classified escape pod too. 

Edited December 7, 2016 by Silurian

[Dagnabbit]

23 minutes ago, Andaman Al said:

You have no idea about aircraft or aircraft development and the costs involved. So, don't comment as if you do know, it is that simple. Trump is completely wrong concerning his comments about the new AF1 aircraft. He just wants to use his own so he can lease it to the US Government for 100 Mill a year. Soon you will see the Criminal in Chief for what he truly is, and when you are old and wrinkly and your grandchildren ask if you supported that terrible man Trump you will look them in the eyes and lie like a true Trump supporter and say "no you were always against the ghastly man".

 

You are absolutely correct. I don't know about aircraft or aircraft development and the costs involved and neither do you. That is why it is so funny that you comment on it in the way you did.

 

Trump on the other hand, has purchased a number of aircraft. In addition, he now has access to the documents pertaining to the new AF1 project. 

 

As for your predictions of Trump charging the US $100M per year to use his own plane. Well - that's just liberal mental masturbation. Are facts irrelevant now?

 

BTW - I am already wrinkly.

[Dagnabbit]

3 minutes ago, Silurian said:

 

Let him use his own aircraft and when it gets blown out of the sky since it has no defensive counter measures...oh well, no big loss. Oops, missing that classified escape pod too. 

 

Please tell us when the last attack occurred targeted at AF1 that needed to be defended against....

 

Yup - never happened.

 

I know this, Trump knows this. Ain't worth no $4BN. Better to lose the odd president here or there...

Edited December 7, 2016 by Dagnabbit