President-elect Donald Trump’s social media attacks on Boeing sent its stock prices tumbling. Boeing has responded by pledging $1 million to help underwrite inaugural events, according to a company official who spoke with USA Today.
News of the Boeing donation came mere days after Trump called on the government to cancel Boeing’s contract to build a brand new 747 Air Force One “for future presidents,” saying it would cost $4 billion. Boeing secured the contract in January to replace the current Air Force One jumbo jets within the next decade.
Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4 billion. Cancel order!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 6, 2016
The donation “matches the amount Boeing gave to President Obama’s 2013 inauguration,” USA Today reported using Federal Election Commission records.
Boeing said in a statement that the company was under contract for a development deal worth “$170 million to determine the capabilities of these complex military aircraft that serve the unique requirements of the President of the United States.” And early government budget estimates of the cost of two planes are about $1.6 billion. In public documents, the Pentagon “budgeted $4 billion in total spending through 2021 to buy two new Air Force Ones from the company,” Salon reported.
Trump’s sharp Twitter attack sent defense and aerospace industry stocks tumbling by nearly $2 a share, or roughly one percent, before markets opened. Later that day, Boeing chief executive Dennis A. Muilenberg — who made comments that were viewed as veiled criticism of Trump’s trade poliies— spoke with the president-elect about bringing down program costs, the Washington Post reported. Stock prices rose up slightly by closing bell. The following day, Trump said that Muilenberg was “a good man” and “a terrific guy” and that “we’re going to work it out.”
Trump’s ability to influence stock markets and turn public opinion was not lost on GOP strategist Karl Rove who said that his comments destabilized the stock “held by millions of Americans.” As president, Trump’s influence could lead to more companies bending over backwards to accommodate his complaints. Robert Reich, a former Secretary of Labor under President Bill Clinton, called Trump a “despot” for using “sticks (public criticism) and carrots (public commendation plus government sweeteners) to get big corporations to do what Trump wants them to do.”
However, Trump senior adviser Kellyanne Conaway told CNBC on Wednesday that she viewed Trump’s public criticisms as an “opportunity.”
“President-elect Trump sees that he has this massive online platform,” Conaway said. “And he sees an opportunity to communicate right to people by cutting through the noise or the silence, whatever the case may be, through social media platforms.”
Yet Trump’s online bullying has had dire consequences on private citizens. He has tweeted out inaccurate statements that leave many people at risk of harassment by his supporters. He has also dismissed allegations made by assault victims, with his supporters trying to cast doubt on those women.