Watch this: Trump said Air Force 1 will cost 4 biilion. True or lie?

[Dragonlady]

The president-elect said in a tweet Tuesday that the new Boeing (BA) 747 jet that's being built to carry "future presidents" already costs more than $4 billion, and that he wants to cancel the order.

"Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4 billion. Cancel order!"

Trump wants to cancel Air Force One order from Boeing

Except that there is no "order" to cancel. The US hasn't ordered any planes from Boeing. He also said the construction was "over budget", which was a total lie. If they haven't ordered any planes, how can the project be "over budget".

The inaccuracies in Donald Trump’s Air Force One tweet

 

[DigitalDrifter]

For the OP: "So as a raw number, Trump’s $4 billion figure is in the ballpark."

The Air Force has published a budgetary document that says research, development, testing and evaluation of the new Air Force Ones -- officially known as the Presidential Aircraft Recapitalization -- will cost $2.87 billion between fiscal years 2015 and 2021. However, the project is expected to extend beyond 2021, and experts told PolitiFact it would likely require another $1 billion in subsequent years to finish the job. The Teal Group has estimated that the project will require an additional $858 million between fiscal years 2022 and 2026.

That adds up to a grand total of $3.73 billion over 12 years. That’s not "more than $4 billion," as Trump said, but it’s reasonably close -- and it’s no secret that defense contracts have a history of escalating in cost over time. Already, in response to inquiries from the media after Trump’s tweet, an Air Force spokesman told reporters to expect the interim $2.7 billion figure "to change as the program matures."

So as a raw number, Trump’s $4 billion figure is in the ballpark.

Fact-checking Donald Trump's tweet on Air Force One, Boeing

 

[edthecynic]

I'm sure Trump is aware of this and is simply using his bully pulpit to alert defense contractors that ALL procurement will be closely reviewed.

IOW, the Groping Grifter in Chief has alerted defense contractors that they have to pay Tramp to play now!!!

 

[ClosedCaption]

Cool, I'm glad that I was able to find out who Godboy and DigitalDrifter turn to when theyre looking for facts. Politifact!

 

[jon_berzerk]

The Trump it's aren't able to say it's both so now they have to choose between Trump and reality. Which will they choose?

did you freak out as much when obama cancelled a couple of overly expensive marine ones

did ya partisan hack


Gibbs: Obama puts new presidential helicopters on hold

 

[ClosedCaption]

The Trump it's aren't able to say it's both so now they have to choose between Trump and reality. Which will they choose?

did you freak out as much when obama cancelled a couple of overly expensive marine ones

did ya partisan hack


Gibbs: Obama puts new presidential helicopters on hold

You think this is about an order cancellation? Your comprehension game needs work.

 

[rightwinger]

What's the problem here ? The Air Force has so far budgeted $2.9 billion through 2021 for two new AF1's. Trump sounds to me like is pretty much on when you consider how something like this is bound to inflate as they get further into the project.

Prior to jumping on Twitter....Trump should have asked "why" AF1 costs so much and what the major cost drivers are

 

[DigitalDrifter]

What's the problem here ? The Air Force has so far budgeted $2.9 billion through 2021 for two new AF1's. Trump sounds to me like is pretty much on when you consider how something like this is bound to inflate as they get further into the project.

Prior to jumping on Twitter....Trump should have asked "why" AF1 costs so much and what the major cost drivers are

I wish he would stay off Twitter altogether.

 

[DigitalDrifter]

Cool, I'm glad that I was able to find out who Godboy and DigitalDrifter turn to when theyre looking for facts. Politifact!

And?

 

[Dragonlady]

I'm sure Trump is aware of this and is simply using his bully pulpit to alert defense contractors that ALL procurement will be closely reviewed.

IOW, the Groping Grifter in Chief has alerted defense contractors that they have to pay Tramp to play now!!!

Boeing says they made no money on the 1980 contract for Air Force One, and do it as a prestige thing. They don't expect to make any money if they build the new planes, but if Trump cancels the work done to date and they have to start over with a new contract, it will cost substantially more than going ahead with the proposed contract from Boeing.

Boeing is discontinuing it's 747 line. If the US government doesn't make their purchase of two new 747's for AF1 before the line is discontinued, they will have to pay for the complete redesign and retrofit of whatever plane they decide to go with making even a break-even purchase of a different plane, much more expensive, since the design work to retro-fit to the AF1 specific requirements was done in 1980, and could be undated far more cheaply than starting over.

The current planes were purchased in 1980, and delivered in 1984. They have a useful life expectancy of 25 years, after that, they become unreliable and expensive to repair. This is not a decision that should be delayed or otherwise put off.

Added to which, after Trump's tweet yesterday, Boeing's stock lost $550 million in value. Nice work Trumpenfuhrer. If I were Trump's Chief of Staff, I'd break his fingers and cancel his Twitter account.