Donald Trump criticizes Boeing’s choices: modernizing the 757 would have been preferable!

Former US President Donald Trump made waves by expressing scathing criticism of aerospace giant Boeing. In a resounding message posted to his newly launched social network, Truth Social, Trump called Boeing the “maintenance-failing Boeing,” questioning the company’s decision to extend the life of the 737 MAX program. The real estate mogul strongly disapproved of Boeing’s choice to continue developing the “unattractive, big, slow 737” to create a larger plane. Instead, he insisted on modernizing the “fast, beautiful and sleek 757”, going so far as to compare it to a “Praying Mantis”. The harsh remarks come in the wake of recent tragic accidents involving the 737 MAX, raising pressing questions about the safety and suitability of the model.

Donald Trump did not limit his criticism to Boeing, he also harshly reprimanded Lockheed Martin and its F-35 fighter jet. The criticism came after a pilot ejected from an F-35 in South Carolina on September 17, 2023, leaving the plane to crash. Trump strongly denounced the US Air Force’s choice to opt for a single-engine fighter plane. He pointed out the lack of redundancy this causes and questioned the reliability of this design. The incident also highlighted gaps in the search for the lost plane, sparking debate over emergency locator protocols.

Trump’s Boeing 757 preference

Donald Trump’s Boeing 757-200, registered N757AF, recently emerged from the shadows. This private plane was last spotted in flight on September 20, 2023, sparking widespread speculation about its current use. The 757 is described by Trump as “fast, beautiful and sleek,” a claim that stands in stark contrast to his opinion of the 737 MAX. “It’s the plane of choice for commercial pilots. If they had listened to me years ago, they wouldn’t have had the disaster known as the 737 MAX.”
The president had already expressed his reservations about this model in a series of tweets in 2019, where he proposed fixing it and giving it a new name.

Trump’s confrontation with the giants of the aviation industry

Donald Trump’s incendiary comments call into question design, maintenance and safety choices in the aviation industry, both for commercial and military aircraft. It remains an open question whether Trump was right on all these points, and whether his voice remains influential in the aviation sector.