US president-elect Donald Trump and the chief executive of Boeing discussed the costs of a new presidential plane on Wednesday after the incoming president had threatened to cancel the order due to rising costs, according to dpa. Chief executive Dennis Muilenburg reassured Trump that "we're going to get it done for less than" the 4 billion dollars Trump claimed the project would cost. Boeing is focused on "making sure we get the best capability, make sure the president is secure and that we protect national security and that we do it affordably," he told reporters after the meeting at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. Trump prompted a flurry of discussion about the project after writing on Twitter earlier this month: "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 US Air Force announced last year that Boeing would build a new fleet of two modified 747-8 aircraft for presidential use beginning in 2024 as the current fleet reaches the end of its lifespan. A report by the Government Accountability Office pegs the total programme cost at 3 billion dollars over a decade until the end of 2020. Boeing's contract is worth 170 million dollars, the company said in a statement. Trump did not specify his source on the cost overruns for the plane, which requires a raft of special equipment to allow the president to fly around the world and have access to the same information as in the White House.
