The momentum, though, took a turn after Trump’s tweet and another post where he linked a Washington Post article on $125 billion in administrative waste hidden by the Pentagon.
iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETFNevertheless, industry experts argued that costs are coming down. The F-35 program’s total estimated cost last year was lowered by $12.1 billion to $379 billion after a $7.5 billion reduction the year prior to $391.1 billion from $398.6 billion.
Moreover, Trump has criticized the “revolving door” nature of the industry as many who negotiated the deals between the government and firms often end up working for the industry down the line.
“The people that are making these deals for the government, they should never be allowed to go to work for these companies. You know, they make a deal like that and then a year later, or two years later, or three years later you see them working for these big companies that made the deal,” Trump told Fox News Sunday, arguing that there should be a “lifetime restriction” of top defense officials going to work for defense contractors.
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