Don’t look for defense industry to go toe-to-toe with President-elect Trump on his Twitter home turf, the president of the Aerospace Industries Association said Tuesday.
Dave Melcher said that having to respond to tweets about contracts or policy is “a new phenomenon.”
“The right answer isn’t to tweet back,” said Melcher, a retired Army lieutenant general. The association represents more than 300 aerospace and defense companies, and Melcher spoke to reporters after the association’s annual luncheon.
Melcher was speaking in response to a question about how his organization will defend member companies under Trump’s administration following a tweet from the president-elect Tuesday morning about canceling a contract with Boeing for the new Air Force One fleet because of an excessive cost of $4 billion.
But Melcher said he isn’t sure where Trump got his number.
“I don’t know where $4 billion came from,” he said, although sources have confirmed that the number most likely represents the total program’s actual cost, and could actually grow.
In the future, Melcher said his organization will likely respond to future tweets in the same way Boeing did by laying out the facts, but urged member companies not to overreact to a particular social media post.
“What is tweeted today is not necessarily going to be the policy of tomorrow,” he said.
During the luncheon event, Melcher spoke about his meeting with Trump and said the president-elect agrees on the need to fully fund the military.
“Exactly 45 days from now, the 45th president will be inaugurated. Just like you, we’ve wondered what the new administration will mean for our industry. I have somewhat of an idea, having sat across the table from Mr. Trump just under six months ago, looking him in the eye, and answering his questions.
“My invitation to brief Mr. Trump came after AIA shared with his team our campaign white papers. It was time well spent, as was my time with senior national security advisers to the Clinton campaign in August.
“What I can tell you based on that meeting, is that the president-elect listened carefully to our views on the need to beef up investments in defense capabilities and to spur high tech innovation. When Mr. Trump later strongly came out for ending the defense spending sequester, I was not surprised.”
