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#EndorseThis: How Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Trips Fleece Taxpayers

#EndorseThis: How Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Trips Fleece Taxpayers

Like many politicians who complain about government “waste,” Donald Trump doesn’t stint on spending taxpayer funds for his own benefit. In his case, the stench of hypocrisy is even stronger because he used to complain so loudly whenever Barack Obama took a trip on Air Force One.

As this NBC News report reveals, Trump’s constant weekend golfing visits to Mar-a-Lago, his Palm Beach estate and private club, have cost us tens of millions of dollars already — and are projected to cost far more, depending how long he remains president. In the meantime, the grifting Trumps are actually profiting from his use of the “Southern White House” for high-profile meetings with heads of state from Japan and China. So he is fleecing the public in at least two ways simultaneously.

Draining the swamp? Nope, he’s draining the Treasury for his own benefit. It’s so great to have a businessman as president, isn’t it?

With Lockheed Martin and Boeing, Trump Creates Another Spectacle

With Lockheed Martin and Boeing, Trump Creates Another Spectacle

PALM BEACH, Fla. (Reuters) – U.S. President-elect Donald Trump extracted a promise from Boeing Co’s chief executive on Wednesday that the cost of replacing Air Force One would not exceed $4 billion, his latest move to use the bully pulpit to pressure companies to help advance his economic agenda.

Trump met with Dennis Muilenburg of Boeing and Marillyn Hewson, chief executive of Lockheed Martin Corp – two defense companies he has made an example of since his Nov. 8 election, sending defense shares tumbling with his complaints about projects he said are too expensive.

He paraded the two CEOs in front of the cameras at the ornate front door of his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, where he is spending Christmas.

“Trying to get the costs down, costs. Primarily the (Lockheed Martin) F-35, we’re trying to get the cost down. It’s a program that’s very, very expensive,” Trump told reporters after meeting with the CEOs and a dozen Pentagon officials involved with defense acquisition programs who he said were “good negotiators.”

Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, has vowed to address government procurement costs as part of his industrial policy, which also includes taking a hard line on Chinese trade practices and renegotiating multilateral trade deals.

Also on Wednesday, Trump named economist Peter Navarro, an economist who has urged a hard line on China, to head up his White House team on industrial policy.

He also appointed billionaire investor Carl Icahn as a special adviser on regulatory issues, and said Icahn would help him choose the next chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

‘PRODUCTIVE’ MEETINGS

Muilenburg, whose company was caught off guard by Trump’s broadside earlier this month on the costs for replacing aging Air Force One planes, called his meeting “productive” and spoke admiringly of Trump’s “business head-set.”

Trump has said Boeing’s costs to build replacements for Air Force One aircraft – one of the most visible symbols of the U.S. presidency – are too high and urged the federal government in a tweet to “Cancel order!”

“I think we’re looking to cut a tremendous amount of money off the price,” Trump said on Wednesday.

The Boeing 747-8s are designed to be an airborne White House able to fly in worst-case security scenarios, such as nuclear war, and are modified with military avionics, advanced communications and a self-defense system.

The company is currently under contract for $170 million to help develop plans for the planes.

Trump has said the planes, which are in the early stages of development and are not expected to be ready until 2024, would cost more than $4 billion.

“We’re going to get it done for less than that, and we’re committed to working together to make sure that happens,” Muilenburg said, telling reporters he gave Trump a “personal commitment” that costs would not run out of control.

Trump has publicly pushed other corporations to change tack, taking credit for forcing United Technologies Corp and Ford Motor Co to alter plans to outsource jobs abroad. Ford, however, said it had no plans to close any U.S. plants.

Asked whether he had secured concessions from Lockheed Martin on its F-35 fighter jet program, which he has complained was “out of control,” Trump said it was to soon to know.

“It’s a dance, you know, it’s a little bit of a dance. But we’re going to get the costs down and we’re going to get it done beautifully,” he told reporters.

Lockheed Martin CEO Hewson, who left Mar-a-Lago without speaking to reporters, said in a statement that her meeting was “productive” and gave her the opportunity to talk about progress in cutting costs.

“The F-35 is a critical program to our national security, and I conveyed our continued commitment to delivering an affordable aircraft to our U.S. military and our allies,” Hewson said.

The costs of the F-35s, used by the Marine Corps and the Air Force, and by six countries, have escalated to an estimated $400 billion, prompting it to be described as the most expensive weapon system in history.

Among the Defense Department officials who met with Trump was Lieutenant General Chris Bogdan, the F-35 program chief for the Pentagon.

(Writing by Roberta Rampton; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Alistair Bell)

IMAGE: Air Force One sits on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland U.S. December 6, 2016, the same morning that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump urged the government to cancel purchase of Boeing’s new Air Force One plane saying it was “ridiculous” and too expensive.  REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Trump Tweets: Boeing Targeted For Cost Of New Air Force One

Trump Tweets: Boeing Targeted For Cost Of New Air Force One

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday urged the government to cancel an order with Boeing Co to develop a revamped Air Force One – one of the most prominent symbols of the U.S. presidency – saying costs were out of control.

Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, pledged during his unconventional campaign for the White House that he would put his skills as a businessman to work for taxpayers, and had griped about the cost of President Barack Obama’s use of the presidential aircraft.

It was not immediately clear what prompted his complaint about Boeing on Tuesday, but a spokesman said that Trump was sending a message that he intends to save taxpayers’ 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!” Trump said on Twitter before making a surprise appearance in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York, where he amplified his comments.

“The plane is totally out of control. 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,” he told reporters.

It was not clear what Trump’s source of information was for the cost. The budgeted costs for the Air Force One replacement program are $2.87 billion for the fiscal years 2015 through 2021, according to budget documents.

A March 2016 report from the Government Accountability Office, a watchdog agency, estimated the total cost of the two 747’s, which have to be extensively modified so they can function as an airborne White House, was estimated at $3.2 billion.

Boeing has not yet been awarded the money to build the two proposed Air Force One replacements. It is currently working on engineering and designing the aircraft.

“We are currently under contract for $170 million to help determine the capabilities of these complex military aircraft that serve the unique requirements of the President of the United States,” the company said in a statement.

“We look forward to working with the U.S. 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.”

Boeing shares dipped after Trump’s tweet and were down around 0.5 percent at midday. Shares of several other major defense contractors were also lower.

NOT A ‘VANILLA’ JUMBO JET

A wealthy real estate developer, Trump used his own Boeing 757 to campaign around the country, pledging to shake up Washington.

A Trump spokesman said that his comments about the plane reflected the president-elect’s desire to keep down costs across the board, and so save taxpayers’ money.

The U.S. Air Force, which operates the presidential planes, first announced in January 2015 that Boeing’s 747-8 would be used to replace the two current planes that transport the U.S. president.

The Air Force has two planes in case one breaks down or needs to be taken out of service for maintenance. The two replacements for the current Air Force One planes are scheduled to be in service by the 2024 fiscal year.

Boeing officials were caught off guard by Trump’s comments since the company is simply meeting requirements mapped out by the Air Force in consultation with the White House, said defense consultant Loren Thompson, who has close ties to Boeing and other companies.

The cost of the planes is high because of the unique security requirements and communications equipment, Thompson said.

“Air Force One has unique mission requirements, including possibly having to operate in a nuclear war,” Thompson said. “Of course it’s not like buying a vanilla Boeing jumbo jet.”

U.S. presidents have used Boeing planes since 1943, according to the company’s website.

The 747-8 planes, 240 feet long (73 meters) long with a wing span of 224 feet (68 meters), can fly direct from Washington to Hong Kong, 1,000 miles (1,600 km) farther than the current Air Force One.

In a September 2015 Rolling Stone profile of Trump, early on in his presidential campaign, he was quoted as gushing about the capabilities of his own Boeing plane.

“I bought this from Paul Allen and gutted it top to bottom. It’s bigger than Air Force One, which is a step down from this in every way. Rolls-Royce engines; seats 43. Did you know it was featured on the Discovery Channel as the world’s most luxurious jetliner?” he said.

(Additional reporting by Emily Stephenson, Mike Stone, Susan Heavey, Andrea Shalal and Doina Chiacu in Washington and Steve Holland, Alana Wise, Jeffrey Dastin, and Lewis Krauskopf in New York, and Alexander Cornwell in Dubai; Writing by Roberta Rampton; Editing by Frances Kerry)

IMAGE: Air Force One with U.S President Barack Obama aboard lands at the Eleftherios Venizelos International airport in Athens, Greece, November 15, 2016. REUTERS/Michalis Karagiannis