Trump brags about Boeing deal that costs taxpayers extra $700 million

Cementing his reputation as perhaps the worst dealmaker in both business and politics, the White House boasted Tuesday about a new $3.9 billion deal Trump has forged with Boeing to build two new Air Force One jets.

Portraying Trump as a hands-on executive fighting runaway costs on behalf of taxpayers, the White House announced “an informal deal with Boeing on a fixed-price contract for the new Air Force One Program.” Aides claim the new deal will save taxpayers $1.4 billion compared to the original contract to build presidential aircrafts.

But none of it is true. The new deal Trump negotiated doesn’t save taxpayers $1.4 billion, it costs them an extra $700 million.

Turns out Boeing is getting a big raise.

As Defense One noted last year, “The Pentagon’s 2018 budget request, sent to Congress in February, shows that the Air Force plans to spend nearly $3.2 billion between 2018 and 2022 on two new Air Force One jets.”

So Trump tore up a contract worth $3.2 billion for two jets and agreed to a new contract that will cost taxpayers $3.9 billion.

Great job, Trump!

You might recall that Trump first railed against the Boeing contract back in December 2016. He tweeted that it had to be canceled because of “out of control” costs.

“It’s going to be over $4 billion for Air Force One program and I think it’s ridiculous,” Trump told reporters at Trump Tower. “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.”

At the time, no Trump aides could explain where Trump was getting the “over $4 billion” figure for the Boeing contract. Instead, a Trump spokesman emphasized that Trump’s attack “really speaks to the president-elect’s focus on keeping costs down across the board.”

Trump’s December 2016 tweet came right after the Chicago Tribune published comments by Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg, criticizing Trump’s rhetoric on trade policy.

One month after taking office, Trump bragged the “price will come WAY DOWN” once he started negotiating with Boeing. Instead, the price has gone up by $700 million. And now the White House has to lie about the costs to cover for Trump.

In the end, it looks like Boeing is going to laugh all the way to the bank. On Tuesday, the company put out a statement, insisting “President Trump negotiated a good deal on behalf of the American people.”

Considering Trump just gave the company a $700 million raise, no wonder Boeing think it’s a “good deal.”