President-elect Donald Trump sent a tweet Tuesday morning that could impact Boeing, indicating he wanted to cancel a Department of Defense contract.
When Trump was asked about the tweet by media gathered in the lobby of Trump Tower later Tuesday, he said,
"Well, the plane is totally out of control. It's going to be more than $4 billion for the Air Force One program and I think it's ridiculous. I think that Boeing is doing a little bit of a number. We want Boeing to make a lot of money, but not that much money."
KIRO 7's DC bureau is working on getting reaction from Representative Rick Larsen, who represents the Boeing Factory in Everett's district.
But there’s already been a response from the director of SPEEA -- the aerospace labor union.
"The presidential airplanes aren't just fancy airplanes. They are mobile White Houses hardened to survive World War III. They are a critical component of our nation's national security infrastructure," said executive director Ray Goforth.
A top Boeing analyst, Scott Hamilton, called Trump "clueless," in his own tweet that linked to a story in Politico, which said the Air Force had previously said that it had earmarked $1.65 billion for the two new aircraft, which will be four-engine Boeing 747-8s.
Boeing later released the following statement on the Air Force One program:
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