Please don't be shocked: Trump lied in his tweet about what the new Air Force One will cost.

[DetlefK]

http://gizmodo.com/trump-bitches-about-air-force-one-upgrade-he-wont-get-t-1789726467

The two Air Force One planes currently in use, highly modified Boeing 747-200B airliners known as VC-25s, are close to reaching the end of their 30-year life expectancy, and both require significant maintenance to stay in the air. Kevin W. Buckley, an Air Force executive who is overseeing the new planes, told Millitary.com earlier this year that “it’s becoming way too expensive and way too difficult,” to maintain the current pair of Air Force Ones. It’s unclear where Trump is getting the $4 billion number from, as it’s being widely reported that the Air Force budgeted $1.65 billion for the new planes between 2015 and 2019. Furthermore, the model selected to replace the old VC-25 airliners, the Boeing 747-8, has a list price of just $379 million. How Trump’s math adds up makes no sense.

...

“Trump’s tweet was completely nonsensical and based on exactly nothing,” Richard Aboulafia, an aerospace analyst, told The Washington Post. “But it’s very difficult to adjudicate on complicated program management and military requirements questions with Twitter as your medium.”

[trotsky]

1. "Trump's tweet was completely nonsensical and based on exactly nothing"

Yeah, as are all of them. Nothing new there.

[PatSeg]

24. He just makes things up as he goes

We've seen him do it at rallies and in interviews. If it pops in his head, somehow it comes out of his mouth.

[0rganism]

37. the only important question is "what does it justify?"

if we're ever going to get ahead of this thing, we need to stop griping about the truthiness of Trump and his minions.
they've said it themselves: truth and facts are irrelevant to their presentation.
Democrats overvalue consensus reality as it presents itself, while Republicans perfect the art of shaping perceptions, hence shifting consensus itself.

what does his idea justify? how does he stand to profit from it?

that is all we need to answer now.

[gratuitous]

39. Who profits? Someone shorting Boeing stock

Borrow a few thousand shares of Boeing stock, sell them at the pre-tweet price, then buy the shares back at the lower post-tweet price and return them to the broker, and voila! You've made a little pile of money at practically zero risk.

Would anyone know? Who cares, because nobody in the popular media and none of the government oversight agencies is going to hold them responsible even if they find out.

[0rganism]

42. there it is, you got it

this needs to be the SOP for anyone planning on doing serious journalism on Trump's presidential reality show: assume the truth is simply an optional feature for whatever he says, and the real story lives in the most greed- and dominance-motivated outcome. skip the whole facts thing, or just mention it in passing, and move on to the real story.

the way i see it, by dissing AF1, Trump maybe gets his own plane refurbished at taxpayer expense

[maddiemom]

41. He'll be more comfortable on his own plane.

He can then also charge secret service, press, anyone else he can, for the ride. Taxpayers can pick up all other costs.

[0rganism]

44. yep

now we're cooking with gas

when this becomes SOP for reporting on Trump, just maybe things can start turning around

[trotsky]

48. Alternatively, "What's he trying to distract everyone from?"

That's his other trick.

[harun]

55. Now he can boast when he get's the bill down to a mere 2 billion.

[spanone]

2. "Trumps tweet was completely nonsensical and based on exactly nothing"...liar-in-chief

[Initech]

3. Trump Tweeting nonsense with no basis in reality? Duh!!!!

[Seasider]

4. Way to put America first Donald

It's bad enough he's pissed off China already and now he's about to piss off Boeing, one of the largest aircraft manufacturers in the world.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

54. Welcome to DU

[TreasonousBastard]

5. Ah, but you're missing the point...

Russia could build one cheaper, and Airbus could build a bigger one.

Get with it, Boeing!

[awoke_in_2003]

50. I wouldn't trust a Russian plane...

and why does AF1 need to be bigger?

[Fichefinder]

6. Also, dont be shocked

if Trump said to his rich friends, "I'm going to bash Boeing tomorrow. Get ready to buy a bunch of stock a lot cheaper".

Follow The MONEY!

[DFW]

7. The math makes more sense when you look at it this way:

The amount the Air Force REALLY budgeted for the planes is $1.65 billion. Trump probably wants to siphon off $2.35 billion to balance the books on a few of his own businesses. That adds up to $4 billion, which he considers too much of a burden on taxpayers. Since he still wants the $2.35 billion for himself, the Air Force needs to reduce the cost on the two planes.

[eShirl]

8. It should be news only when Twitler doesn't lie.

[Arkansas Granny]

9. Frankly, I'd be more surprised to find out that DT told the truth about anything.

I think he has a plan to charge the US taxpayer for using his own plane instead of AF1.

[oldtime dfl_er]

31. BINGO

This is truth.

[lame54]

33. Less room for the press

[TexasProgresive]

10. He want's it made of 24 carat gold.

[Cha]

11. Out of his ass?

[Achilleaze]

12. Of course it was a lie

Americans have learned to expect Republicans to lie.
And they do.

[Frustratedlady]

13. He probably used the same math he uses for his self-worth...until...

he has to switch to another method he uses for his tax returns.

Just sayin'.

[exboyfil]

14. Here is where the number came from

It is for two planes including support.

http://www.defensenews.com/articles/trump-tweets-us-should-cancel-air-force-one-replacement

It rounds up to $4B. Twitter is the wrong place to express these concerns, but I salute him on trying to save the U.S. government money. Next up the F-35 maybe? I wonder if he knows the company that makes the engines shares the same parent UTC as Carrier?

[jmowreader]

20. I think he also knows...

...that the C-17, KC-46 and VC-25 have Pratt & Whitney airliner engines...and there are two other Western manufacturers that make engines which would work. "Nice little defense business you have there. Shame if anything happened to it."

[Fast Walker 52]

25. yes, let's build a super cheap Air Force One for him, maybe it will shorten his presidency

[exboyfil]

27. I wonder if Trump has ever

seen a disaster movie. Something like Independence Day might be at his level and help him to understand that AF 1 is much more than an airplane.

I don't think he has yet grasped (and may never grasp) what being the President of the United States means. It would be good for him to study the Bay of Pigs invasion and Cuban Missile crisis, the Kennedy assassination, the Reagan assassination attempt, and 9/11.

[Fast Walker 52]

52. yes, seriously-- he still doesn't seem to get it

[Abq_Sarah]

36. Honestly

I wouldn't mind if they scaled down AF1. Make it smaller and more maneuverable. It should only have what is essential to get the President, a few staff members and his security detail from point A to point B.

[hamsterjill]

15. If Trump wants to save taxpayers money, let him refuse the security details that have to guard him.

If he really wants to save some money, let him do away with his security details. He can either pay for his own body guards, or heck, some of the gun nuts would probably volunteer to work for him free of charge.

[oldtime dfl_er]

34. Doesn't he have the BEST security?

Isn't his security BIGLY better than anything the government could provide? Isn't it the MOST BEAUTIFUL, the BEST???

[hamsterjill]

46. I think it is! The BEST. Many people have said so.

So why would he settle for anything less than the BEST, right?

Would save us all a bundle! LOL

[RonniePudding]

16. I think he should continue to fly in his 1991 Boeing 757

After all, advanced encrypted communications, electronic countermeasures etc. are not really needed. I think he should just stick with what he is most comfortable with. I want him to be comfortable. His plane will work just fine, I think.

[machoneman]

19. Why would he need to encrypt anything....

since he'll blab it all out on Twitter anyway?

I mean, he needs none of that stuff since he understand nothing about security, national secrets or the like. Heck, he's gonna ask the Joint Chiefs soon to take him to Area 51 to see the spaceship the aliens came in, just like the Will Smith movie, eh?

[Fast Walker 52]

26. yes, I'm curious what secrets he'll let out... though oddly enough Hillary was the one calling

for UFO disclosure.

[FarCenter]

17. 747s are obsolete -- Boeing had either closed production or is about to

They are being withdrawn from passenger service and are now used mainly for cargo.

The 777 and 787 are current. The 777 is larger than the 787.

[Kablooie]

18. Once Boeing releases the info that it's 1.65 billion Trump can take credit as a brilliant negotiator

Look at how much money he saved by being tough!

[lark]

21. Shocking would be truthful tweets, lies are the std. with him.

[MFM008]

22. The lying liar

Lies again...........

[Fast Walker 52]

23. when do the electors meet again? Are these tweets some sort of cry for help to the electors

to not vote for him?

[avebury]

28. One must always assume everything coming out of Trump's mouth is a lie.

He would know or acknowledge the truth even if it bit him in the butt.

[napi21]

29. We all know he just makes shit up all the time and he did it again/ will say though

the current fleet does need to be replaced. Both my sons are in aircraft maintenance and they will explain tto you tthhat onceg a plane gets so old, it costs more to keep it flying than the cost of a new plane. Parts become scarce or nonexistent. They have to use part out of the scrapyard.

[SCVDem]

30. Now is the time for Boeing

to announce they are closing US operations and moving to Canada.

Let's see how the electoral voters like him now!

[lame54]

32. A later tweet will be him claiming he negotiated...

The 4 billion down to the 379 million that it actually is

[pansypoo53219]

35. pmore penny wise pound foolish from the credit card GOP.

[NastyRiffraff]

38. Most Republicans lie

at least the ones in office, but Trump sets a whole new standard for lying. He lies constantly, even contradicting his own lies with other lies. He lies when he doesn't need to. He lies because he thinks if he WANTS something to be true it must BE true. He lies in rallies, he lies on Twitter, he lies to his own staff.

Liar in Chief, indeed. That title ought to stick.

[mnhtnbb]

49. He is a pathological liar. This is not a secret.

[maxrandb]

40. I guess we still don't get it

Trump's supporters are "completely nonsensical and based on exactly nothing"

He knows how to manipulate them. The more misinformed they are the better. They just respond to a person who "exudes confidence". Doesn't matter to them that he's full of shit, because it's the kind of shit they thrive on.

[greatauntoftriplets]

43. Herr Drumpf wouldn't know the truth if it slapped him in the face.

[oldtime dfl_er]

51. Which we all wish it would

nice and hard.

[DeminPennswoods]

45. He has NO clue

The AF1s are specially outfitted. I believe they must be able to stay in the air for at least several days should some catastrophic event hit the US. There's probably a lot more that's unknown to the public.

Here's another thing that most people don't know. When a part fails, it's not replaced with a repaired component, the replacement part is brand new - always.

AF1s and Marine1s (the helicopters) are basically unique aircraft. You don't go down to the local Walmart and pick one up off the shelf.

[renegade000]

47. Indeed, which is also why the 747-8...

If you lose an engine, would you rather be in a 747 or w 777/787...

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

53. Not shocked at all

I am angry however since Boeing is a major employer where I live. I have friends and family who work there.