He who pays the piper calls the tune, and it looks like the military-industrial complex is going to be dancing to Donald Trump's tune for years to come. Trump shook up the defense industry once again on Thursday when he tweeted about negotiations for fighter jets, pitting Boeing and Lockheed Martin against each other, reports Reuters. "Based on the tremendous cost and cost overruns of the Lockheed Martin F-35, I have asked Boeing to price-out a comparable F-18 Super Hornet!" tweeted Trump, who has been holding meetings with aerospace execs at his Mar-a-Lago estate. Lockheed shares, which went down 4% after an earlier Trump tweet, dived 2% in after-hours trading, while Boeing was up 0.7%. A roundup of coverage:
- Politico takes a close look at the implications of Trump involving himself so closely in the federal procurement process and turning it into a "$440 billion weapon." Presidents including Obama have used the process to advance their agendas, but experts say it's unprecedented for one to target individual companies and contracts the way Trump is doing—and his approach is likely to create great uncertainty for defense companies.