Trump Boeing Tweet Came After CEO Criticized Policy

The company's stock nosedived in early trading
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 7, 2016 1:10 AM CST
Updated Dec 7, 2016 6:33 AM CST
Trump Boeing Tweet Came After CEO Criticized Policy
Air Force One, with President Barack Obama aboard, flies past a Boeing building on its arrival Oct. 9, 2015, at King County International Airport in Seattle.   (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

The immense power that Donald Trump's tweets now carry was brought home Tuesday morning, when he tweeted a complaint about "out of control" costs for Boeing's new 747 Air Force One jets, saying "Cancel order!"—a move that caused Boeing's stock to fall around 1%, or nearly $2 a share, in early trading. The Washington Post reports that the Trump tweet came just minutes after the Chicago Tribune posted a story in which Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg strongly criticized anti-free trade rhetoric during the 2016 campaign, and the timing suggests Trump may have "tanked Boeing's stock because he was mad about a news article." The Post notes that the last time Trump "tweeted an out-of-the-blue opinion, about flag-burning, it was immediately after a Fox News segment showing students burning flags."

Trump claimed that the cost of the Air Force One deal had soared to "more than $4 billion," though both Boeing and the White House said his numbers were off. "We are currently under contract for $170 million to determine the capabilities of these complex military aircraft that serve the unique requirements of the President of the United States," Boeing said in a statement. "We look forward to working with the US 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." MarketWatch reports that Boeing stock recovered after the company's comment and finished the day slightly ahead of where it had been before Trump's tweet. (More Donald Trump stories.)

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