Shares of Lockheed Martin fell Monday morning as President-elect Donald Trump tweeted that making F-35 fighter planes is too costly and that he will cut "billions" in costs for military purchases.
Lockheed makes the F-35 one-seat fighter aircraft for the U.S. and is a major defense contractor. The F-35 program made up 20 percent of Lockheed's total revenue last year.
The tweet was the second sent by Trump in one week that slammed spending on U.S. aircraft. On Tuesday Trump wrote that "costs are out of control" for new presidential planes by Boeing Corp.
"Cancel order!" he ended the tweet.
"Well, the plane is totally out of control," Trump told media gathered in the lobby of Trump Tower last week. "It's going to be more than $4 billion for the Air Force One program and I think it's ridiculous. I think that Boeing is doing a little bit of a number. We want Boeing to make a lot of money, but not that much money."
A top Boeing analyst, Scott Hamilton, called Trump "clueless," in a tweet that linked to a Politico report. According to the report, the Air Force had previously said that it had earmarked $1.65 billion for the two new aircraft, which will be four-engine Boeing 747-8s.
Boeing later released the following statement on the Air Force One program:
"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. 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."
Representatives from Lockheed, based in Bethesda, Maryland, did not immediately have a comment.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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