US Defense Majors Face a $110 Billion Conundrum to Please Trump
An F-35 Lighting II fighter jet poster at the Lockheed Martin Corp. stand a defense and technology fair in Brno, Czech Republic.
Photographer: Milan Jaros/BloombergThe biggest US defense companies spent twice as much on stock buybacks and dividends than they did on capital expenditures the past five years, a mismatch that has drawn the ire of President Donald Trump as he demands a reversal.
Lockheed Martin Corp., RTX Corp., Boeing Co., Northrop Grumman Corp. and General Dynamics Corp. collectively spent more than $110 billion on buybacks and dividends since 2020, Bloomberg Intelligence data show. Capital expenditure in the same period was about $45.5 billion. Trump said Wednesday that inconsistency was “at the expense and detriment” at investments in plants and products, and would no longer be tolerated.