Trump Calls Boeing A ‘Big, Big Disappointment’
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President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before leaving the White House in Washington, Wednesday, March 20, 2019, for a trip to visit the Lima Army Tank Plant in Lima, Ohio, and a fundraising event in Canton. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
DAVOS, SWITZERLAND – President Donald Trump on Wednesday criticized Boeing as a “very disappointing company” because of the aerospace giant’s recent problems after the grounding of the 737 MAX plane, which he said had a knock-on effect for the US economy.
“This is one of the great companies of the world, let’s say as of a year ago, and then all of a sudden things happen,” Trump said in an interview on CNBC from the Davos economic forum in Switzerland.
This “had a tremendous impact. You know, when you talk about growth, it’s so big that some people say it’s more than a half a point of GDP. So Boeing — big, big disappointment to me,” he said.
Boeing had Tuesday officially pushed back the time frame for the 737 MAX to return to the skies, sending shares plunging and overshadowing an earlier announcement of a first flight of the delayed 777X plane.
The 737 MAX was grounded worldwide March 13, 2019 after two crashes claimed the lives of 346 people.
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Tuesday he believed that issues including the grounding of of Boeing 737 MAX plane had shaved some 0.5 to 0.7 of a percent point off the US growth rate.
AFP
