After months of negotiation to bring down costs, President Trump has struck a deal with Boeing and new Air Force One airplanes are on the way.
EXCLUSIVE to @FoxNews ...New Air Force One’s coming... @realDonaldTrump reached an informal deal with Boeing for 2 new AF-1s. Fixed price deal is for $3.9 billion. WH says this is a savings of $1.4 billion on total original cost estimates of more than $5 billion
— John Roberts (@johnrobertsFox) February 27, 2018
Boeing is proud to build the next generation of Air Force One, providing American Presidents with a flying White House at outstanding value to taxpayers. President Trump negotiated a good deal on behalf of the American people. pic.twitter.com/m0HtGfXVlv
— The Boeing Company (@Boeing) February 27, 2018
Shortly after the election and during the White House transition period in 2016, President Trump publicly berated Boeing for allegedly throwing unnecessary costs into the contracts for the new planes, saying the company was "doing a number" on taxpayers.
"Well the plane is totally out of control, it's going to be over $4 billion for Air Force One program," Trump said to reporters at Trump Tower in December 2016. "I think it's ridiculous, I think Boeing is doing a little bit of a number. We want Boeing to make a lot of money, but not that much money."
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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 6, 2016
In terms of the discrepancy between $5 billion and $4 billion, Trump was reportedly given bad information about the total cost.
How is the original cost estimate for AF-1 suddenly over $5 billion, when @realDonaldTrump tweeted in 2016 it was $4B? According to an official familiar with the program, POTUS "was given bad information in 2016" about the total cost. It was always over $5B
— John Roberts (@johnrobertsFox) February 27, 2018