US President-elect Donald Trump has called on Barack Obama’s outgoing administration to cancel its contract with Boeing for the manufacture of a new Air Force One, the price of which, he claimed, was getting “out of control.”
"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!" Trump tweeted Tuesday morning.
A short while later, Trump appeared at Trump Tower in New York in front of reporters and called the price of the new Air Force One “ridiculous.”
"The plane is totally out of control. I think it's ridiculous. I think Boeing is doing a little bit of a number. We want Boeing to make a lot of money but not that much money," he said.
The US Air Force, which operates Air Force One, had first announced in January 2015 that the Boeing 747-8 model would replace two planes that are currently in service for transporting the president and his entourage.
According to Boeing’s website, Boeing planes have been used by US presidents since 1943.