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Boeing Chief Meets With Trump About Air Force One, Fighter Costs

The White House
Air Force One is currently one of a pair of Boeing 747-200B planes.

The Boeing Company's CEO Tuesday had a second face-to-face meeting with President-elect Donald Trump to talk jet prices. Boeing's Dennis Muilenburg said they discussed a multi-billion dollar contract to replace the aging Air Force One jumbo jets and about new fighter jets for the military.

Muilenburg left Trump Tower saying he felt "very encouraged."

"Together we're working through simplifying the requirements and streamlining the process and applying commercial best practices,” Muilenburg said. “That's going to lead to substantial price reductions. This is something we're working together. I appreciate the teamwork approach on this. I think it's the right way to do business."

Trump did not come down to speak with reporters about this meeting with Boeing.

The president-elect took Boeing by surprise last month when he tweeted his displeasure with the high price of the proposed next-generation Air Force One. Trump suggested at that time the contract be cancelled, but Muilenburg says the two are now "on the same page."

Now semi-retired, Tom Banse covered national news, business, science, public policy, Olympic sports and human interest stories from across the Northwest. He reported from well known and out–of–the–way places in the region where important, amusing, touching, or outrageous events unfolded. Tom's stories can be found online and were heard on-air during "Morning Edition" and "All Things Considered" on NPR stations in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho.