US President-elect Donald Trump has said he wants to cut government costs by canceling the order for new planes to carry the American president.
Trump tweeted: “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!”
The government has a contract with Boeing to build two or more new planes, reports BBC.
The White House appeared to cast doubt on the figures quoted by Trump.
“Some of the statistics that have been cited, shall we say, don't appear to reflect the nature of the financial arrangement between Boeing and the Department of Defense,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said.
The new planes would enter service around 2024.
Boeing shares fell more than 1% after the president-elect's tweet, but recovered most of their losses in afternoon trading.
Trump would not fly on the new planes unless he won a second term in the 2020 election.
The president-elect also announced on Tuesday that Japan's SoftBank has agreed to invest $50bn (£39.4bn) in the US aimed at creating 50,000 new jobs.
Trump revealed the plan after meeting SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son at Trump Tower.
“Masa said he would never do this had we (Trump) not won the election!” he tweeted.
As president and commander-in-chief, Donald Trump will have the power to cancel the contract with Boeing for the new planes.
But if he does, it could cost the US taxpayer even more as the new president tries to save money.
The US government has already signed a contract with Boeing for $170m (£134m; €158m). Additional funding has also been earmarked for the two new planes.
The Government Accountability Office - an independent government auditor - estimates the final cost will be $3.2bn.
The planes are still in early design phases, though - much of the money has yet to be spent and has not had a chance to overrun the cost estimates.
Negotiation between Boeing and the US government could cut some of the costs, but if Trump pulls out of the Boeing contract entirely the country may lose the money it is already contracted to pay.
Trump now uses his own plane, but as president he would travel aboard Air Force One, which is equipped with special safety, defensive and communications equipment.
He is known for his admiration of his Trump-branded Boeing 757 jet, boasting to Rolling Stone last year that his aircraft was “bigger than Air Force One, which is a step down from this in every way”.
BDST: 1309 HRS, DEC 07, 2016
AP/SMS
