‘Whatever His Intent, Trump Is Telling Boeing That He’s Watching, So It Better Watch Out’
At 7:30 AM local time the Chicago Tribune published an article titled “Boeing CEO waits for Trump’s trade play.” As John Harwood, who covers business and politics for CNBC and The New York Times notes, just 22 minutes later Donald Trump posted his now infamous tweet calling for the cancellation of Boeing’s supposed deal to build two new Air Force Ones.
Trump falsely cited cost overruns, but according to an official statement from Boeing, the project is merely in the planning stage, and they are under contract only for $170 million “to help determine the capabilities of these complex military aircraft.” The Pentagon has tagged somewhere between $1.65 and $3.2 billion for the two presidential 747s, but Trump claimed there were cost overruns that had already brought the price tag to $4 billion. That figure is widely considered to have been pulled out of thin air, again, since the aircraft are not even on the drawing board yet.
The Chicago Tribune article, written by Robert Reed, profiled Dennis Muilenburg, Boeing’s CEO, and quotes him several times.Â
“Last year, we delivered 495 737s from our factory in Renton, Wash., to customers around the world. One in every 3 of those 737s were bound for China. And about a quarter of all our airplane deliveries … were bound for Chinese customers,” the Boeing CEO told the Chicago Tribune. “I’m not a political pundit or prognosticator — we have too many of those — but anyone who paid attention to the recent campaigns and the election results realizes that one of the overarching themes was apprehension about free and fair trade,” he also said.
But it was this three-paragraph conclusion that might have caused the Trump tweet:
Muilenburg suggests the Trump team, and Congress, back off from the 2016 anti-trade rhetoric and perceived threats to punish other countries with higher tariffs or fees.
Instead, he suggests they get down to the business of advocating a stronger U.S. agenda during ongoing or upcoming trade negotiations with other countries.
“If we do not lead when it comes to writing these rules, our competitors will write them for us,” he said.
Justin Wolfers, an economist, economics professor, and contributing columnist at The New York Times offered this warning and insight in response to Harwood’s observation that the Tribune article may have set of the president-elect:
Wolfers and Harwood aren’t alone. Chicago Tribune reporter Robert Reed, who wrote the piece that may have pushed Trump to tweet, followed up later with a new take: “Trump’s tough tweet goal: Rattle Boeing.”
“Trump’s singling out a major U.S. company in such an adversarial manner may be unprecedented,” Reed writes. “While other incoming and sitting presidents have criticized industries, unions and business groups, it’s unusual for one to focus on a single company, especially when you consider Boeing is also a contractor tied to the nation’s defense industry.”
And Reed makes it clear:
“Maybe Trump’s Air Force One salvo is a down-and-dirty response to Muilenburg’s suggestion that the new presidential team, and Congress, cool the anti-trade rhetoric.”
“Whatever his intent, Trump is telling Boeing that he’s watching, so it better watch out.”
Welcome to Trump’s America.
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Image by US Dept. Of State via Flickr