Trump’s claim taking credit for cutting $600 million from the F-35 program

The following article by Michelle Ye Hee Lee was posted on the Washington Post website January 31, 2017:

“But we cut approximately $600 million off the F-35 fighter, and that only amounts to 90 planes out of close to 3,000 planes. And when you think about $600 million, it was announced by Marillyn, who’s very talented, the head of Lockheed Martin. I got involved in that about a month ago. A lot was put out, and when they say a lot, a lot meant about 90 planes. They were having a lot of difficulty. There was no movement and I was able to get $600 million approximately off those planes.”
— President Trump, remarks to the press, Jan. 30, 2017

Trump met privately with Lockheed Martin chief executive Marillyn Hewson, following his pre-inauguration criticism in December of the company and the cost of F-35 Joint Strike Fighter planes. Then, in a Jan. 30, 2017, meeting, Trump announced a dramatic cut of $600 million from the program. Is that correct? Continue reading “Trump’s claim taking credit for cutting $600 million from the F-35 program”