Trump Says He Will Personally Negotiate Air Force One Price With Boeing -- 2nd Update
08 December 2016 - 3:25AM
Dow Jones News
By Damian Paletta and Daniel Nasaw
President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday said he would
personally "negotiate the prices" with Boeing Co. of the planes to
be used as Air Force One, promising to block a future order if
necessary and to continue using the existing aircraft for the
presidential plane.
Mr. Trump, in a Wednesday morning interview on NBC, said he had
spoken to Boeing Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg on Tuesday
following criticism Mr. Trump leveled at the company about what he
perceived were elevated prices for the planes. Mr. Trump accused
the company of attempting to charge more than $4 billion to build
the new planes, a figure that the White House and Air Force have
disputed.
While presidents do become personally involved in many
negotiations, such as trade deals or legislation with Congress, it
is much less common for them to be intimately involved in
government procurement contracts.
Mr. Trump, in the NBC interview, said he saw this as part of his
job.
"That's what I'm here for," he said. "I'm going to negotiate the
prices."
In a statement, Boeing confirmed Mr. Trump had spoken to Mr.
Muilenburg by phone and said the company's chief "committed to
working with the new administration to control costs as they
establish requirements for the new Air Force One to keep the
program as affordable as possible and deliver the best value to
American taxpayers."
Also in the interview, Mr. Trump said he was going to put
together a series of government policies to encourage business
growth. "We're getting rid of 90%, maybe 85% of the regulations
which are stifling business," he said.
The president-elect also went into greater detail about his
decision in June to sell his stock holdings, revealed by his
campaign on Tuesday.
"I felt that I was very much going to be winning" and that it
would be a "conflict of interest owning all of these different
companies," he said. "I don't think it's appropriate for me to be
owning stocks."
He also praised the man he will succeed in the White House,
saying that he and President Barack Obama have "really good
chemistry" and that he had run ideas for cabinet picks by him.
"I've now gotten to know President Obama," Mr. Trump said in the
NBC interview, which marked his pick as Time magazine's person of
the year. "I really like him. We have a really good chemistry
together. We talk."
He said Mr. Obama "loves the country, he wants to do right by
the country. I really like him as a person."
Mr. Trump is in the process of assembling his cabinet and top
advisers, having announced his choices for the secretaries of
commerce, defense, education, housing and urban development, health
and human services, and treasury, as well as national security
adviser. Mr. Trump said he expected to name his pick for secretary
of state next week. He said there would be other "big
announcements" on Wednesday and Thursday.
"I have asked him what he would think of this one and that one,"
Mr. Trump said of Mr. Obama, adding he takes Mr. Obama's
suggestions "very seriously."
"We have a very good dialogue," he said on NBC. "I do like him.
I love getting his ideas."
Doug Cameron contributed to this article.
Write to Damian Paletta at damian.paletta@wsj.com and Daniel
Nasaw at daniel.nasaw@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 07, 2016 11:10 ET (16:10 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Boeing (NYSE:BA)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Boeing (NYSE:BA)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024