President Donald Trump bizarrely attacked former President Barack Obama during a Fox Business interview regarding the production of the F-35 fighter jet, only to get thoroughly called out by a reporter who covers air warfare.
When asked about how he is dealing with bringing manufacturing production back to the United States from China, Trump pivoted to talk about “stupidity” he has supposedly seen surrounding a fighter jet he said he wouldn’t name — but named it anyway — before blaming Obama and other past presidents for the plane being produced around the world.
“I could tell you hundreds of stories of the stupidity that I’ve seen,” Trump said. “As an example, we make a fighter jet. It’s a certain fighter jet. I won’t tell you which, but it happens to be the F-35, okay? And we make parts for this jet all over the world — we make them in Turkey, we make them here, we make them there — because President Obama and others — I’m not just blaming him — thought it was a wonderful thing.”
Here’s the video:
Bartiromo asks Trump about bringing supply chains back to the U.S.
“I could tell you hundreds of stories of the stupidity that I’ve seen. As an example, we make a fighter jet. It’s a certain fighter jet. I won’t tell you which, but it happens to be the F-35, OK?” pic.twitter.com/YJoArsiiAL
— Dave Brown (@dave_brown24) May 14, 2020
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Defense News reporter Valerie Insinna took issue with Trump’s claims because parts suppliers for the F-35 production had already been lined up long before Obama ever took office.
By the time President Obama had stepped into office in 2008, the supply chain for the F-35 would have pretty much in stone. Its first flight was in 2006, but many suppliers would have been lined up before the contract was awarded in 2001. https://t.co/wf5A8fwTB2
— Valerie Insinna (@ValerieInsinna) May 14, 2020
Furthermore, the United States is not the only investor in F-35 production as many of our allies contributed to the development, therefore giving them every right to have part of the plane produced in their nations as well.
The F-35’s supply chain is always in flux, and that’s part of the overall vision for the aircraft. The joint strike fighter was created not just for the US military, but for US allies and partners, who helped pay for the development of the aircraft in return for industrial work.
— Valerie Insinna (@ValerieInsinna) May 14, 2020
Insinna pointed out that a distributed global supply chain for the F-35 is actually beneficial.
I wouldn’t blame this concept on any one president. This was not the brainchild of Clinton, Bush or Obama. And there are a lot of benefits to having a jet that most of your allies also use, with a distributed and global supply chain and sustainment enterprise.
— Valerie Insinna (@ValerieInsinna) May 14, 2020
She’s not wrong. One benefit is that the military can seek parts for maintenance of planes deployed overseas from nearby allies because other nations use the same parts, therefore saving money and time because the military wouldn’t have to order parts for shipment from the United States to keep fighter jets in tip-top shape.
Trump even apparently failed to correctly explain Turkey’s contribution to the F-35.
However, Trump’s assertion that Turkey makes the “main body” of the F-35 and that Erdogan is refusing to give the US F-35 fuselages is…not what is happening here.
Turkish Aerospace Industries is a secondary supplier of the center fuselage. Northrop Grumman is the primary.
— Valerie Insinna (@ValerieInsinna) May 14, 2020
Anyway, it’s not clear whether when Trump says “we should make everything in the United States” and “I’m changing those policies” that he is talking about the F-35 supply chain. But if he is, that completely undermines the entire point of the program.
— Valerie Insinna (@ValerieInsinna) May 14, 2020
Basically, Trump is costing taxpayers money and hurting the military by trying to force the production of F-35 parts to take place solely in the United States. He is also insulting our allies and weakening our ties with nations critical to our national security.
In the end, Obama is not the stupid president in this scenario, Trump is.
Featured image via screen capture
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