After Trump Meeting, Lockheed Martin CEO Again Vows to Cut F-35 Costs and Add More Fort Worth Jobs

WASHINGTON -- Under pressure from President-elect Donald Trump to cut costs for the F-35 program, Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn Hewson visited Trump Tower on Friday for a second meeting with the president-elect, previewing a deal to satisfy him and promising more jobs in Fort Worth out of the effort.After the meeting, Hewson told reporters that she shares Trump’s desire to reduce the costs of the stealth fighter jets, produced by Lockheed through a contract with the Pentagon, down to “the lowest possible price.”“So I'm glad I had the opportunity to tell him that we are close to a deal that will bring the cost down significantly from the previous lot of aircraft to the next lot of aircraft,” Hewson said, describing it as a “great meeting.”Hewson added that the company is planning to add 1,800 more jobs to Fort Worth, where the company assembles the jets. As of now, the F-35 program provides 38,900 jobs to Texas either directly or indirectly, according to Lockheed, and contributes an economic impact of $3.4 billion to the state.Trump first began publicly complaining about the F-35 costs in December on the platform he uses to air many of his grievances: Twitter.  Continue reading...