President Donald Trump announced Monday he will meet with executives from major defense contractors next week to pressure them to cut spending on stock buybacks, dividends, and executive compensation in favor of investing more in weapons production.

  President Donald Trump announced Monday he will meet with executives from major defense contractors next week to pressure them to cut spending on stock buybacks, dividends, and executive compensation in favor of investing more in weapons production and manufacturing facilities.   

 Speaking from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, Trump criticized defense executives earning tens of millions of dollars annually while failing to meet production targets. "We don't want to have executives making $50 million a year issuing big dividends to everybody and also doing buybacks and also saying we don't have the money to build a plant," Trump said.

 The announcement follows weeks of mounting frustration within the Trump administration over production delays and cost overruns in major defense programs. Reuters reported last week that the administration is planning an executive order to limit dividends, buybacks, and executive pay for defense contractors whose projects are over-budget and delayed. The planned restrictions would target companies like Lockheed Martin, RTX, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics, and Boeing.

https://news.bloomberglaw.com/esg/trump-to-host-defense-firms-to-urge-less-spending-on-buybacks