Top officers on the Pentagon are “thinking about” whether or not the U.S. ought to purchase equity stakes in main protection contractors akin to Lockheed Martin, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick mentioned Tuesday.
The Cabinet secretary, in an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” revealed the Defense Department’s curiosity in taking these stakes days after the U.S. authorities acquired 10% of Intel inventory in a roughly $9 billion deal.
Lutnick was requested if the Trump administration would repeat that transfer with different corporations that do enterprise with the federal government.
“Oh there’s a monstrous discussion about defense,” Lutnick replied.
Lockheed, which makes most of its income from federal contracts, is “basically an arm of the U.S. government,” he mentioned.
“But what’s the economics of that? I’m going to leave that to my Secretary of Defense and the deputy Secretary of Defense.”
“These guys are on it and they’re thinking about it,” he mentioned.
Lutnick added that President Donald Trump is rethinking how the U.S. should finance its munitions and different protection capabilities.
“I tell you, the way it has been done has been a giveaway,” Lutnick claimed. His comment might counsel that the Trump administration is contemplating a significant overhaul of Pentagon appropriations, that are authorised yearly by Congress.
Lockheed and the Pentagon didn’t instantly reply to CNBC’s requests for remark.
Lockheed is the world’s prime protection firm by income, in accordance with DefenseInformation’ 2024 list. Other prime U.S. contractors embody RTX, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics and Boeing.
Trump’s transfer to take possession of a bit of Intel, an embattled chipmaker, is a significant escalation in his efforts to attain his financial targets by exerting increasingly authorities management over the personal financial system.
Trump mentioned Monday that he would make related offers “all day long.”
Lutnick said Friday that the settlement Trump struck with Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan “strengthens U.S. leadership in semiconductors, which will both grow our economy and help secure America’s technological edge.”
But the transfer has drawn heated criticism — together with from some conservatives, who warn that Trump’s motion cuts towards free-market rules and poses dangers for each Intel and the financial system.
“The most immediate risk is that Intel’s decisions will increasingly be driven by political rather than commercial considerations,” economist Scott Lincicome of the libertarian Cato Institute wrote in a Washington Post op-ed.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., wrote in an X post, “If socialism is government owning the means of production, wouldn’t the government owning part of Intel be a step toward socialism?”
