Trump Calls for Cancellation of U.S. Presidential Aircraft Order

Donald Trump, the elected president of the United States, stated on Tuesday that the cost of ordering new presidential aircraft (Air Force One) from Boeing is too high and called for the cancellation of this order. According to Reuters, during his unusual election campaign, Trump promised to use his business experience to save and better spend public taxes. He had also criticized the high costs associated with the use of the presidential aircraft by Barack Obama. It is still unclear what specifically prompted Trump's criticism of the costs related to these aircraft on Tuesday, but a spokesperson said Trump aims to show the public that he will save on government spending. Trump tweeted on Tuesday: 'Boeing is building new planes for the next president, but the cost is too high. More than $4 billion. Cancel the order.' He then elaborated in a conversation with reporters, saying: 'The cost of building this plane is very high and completely unreasonable. I think Boeing wants too much money. We want Boeing to have good revenue, but not to this extent.' Reuters notes that it is unclear what source Trump is referencing to assess the costs of building these aircraft. According to U.S. government budget documents, the cost of building these two new aircraft, which was included in the budgets from 2015 to 2021, is approximately $2.87 billion. According to a report from the Government Accountability Office, the oversight body for government budgets and expenditures published in March 2016, the total cost of the two Boeing 747 aircraft, which require significant modifications for presidential use, will be about $3.2 billion. The amount related to the production of these two aircraft has not yet been paid to Boeing, and the company is currently in the design phase of these aircraft. Boeing stated: 'We currently have a $170 million contract for the design phase of the military specifications for our special presidential aircraft.' Following Trump's tweet, Boeing's stock price dropped by about 0.5%. The stock prices of several other military production companies also fell. Reuters reminds that Trump, who traveled during his campaign on his private Boeing 757, promised to change many governance methods in the U.S. The U.S. Air Force, which is responsible for presidential aircraft, first announced in January 2015 that it would use the Boeing 747-8 model to replace the current presidential aircraft. The U.S. Air Force always has two aircraft available for this purpose so that a second aircraft can be used during repairs or in case of any technical issues. The two new presidential aircraft are expected to be operational in 2024. Boeing management expressed surprise at Trump's comments. Defense experts say the company is merely executing an order that the U.S. Air Force delivered in close consultation with the White House. These experts emphasize that the high production costs of these aircraft are due to the special equipment installed in them. According to information on Boeing's website, U.S. presidents have used aircraft produced by this company since 1943. The 747-8 model, with a length of about 73 meters and a wingspan of 68 meters, can fly nonstop from Washington to Hong Kong, which is about 1,600 kilometers longer than the flight capacity of the current U.S. presidential aircraft.