President Donald Trump said U.S. defense contractors “manufacture too slowly” and pledged to push them to accelerate weapons production, underscoring long-running frustrations over cost overruns and schedule slips in Pentagon programs. Speaking to reporters on 29 July, Trump renewed criticism of Boeing’s years-late effort to deliver two new VC-25B presidential jets and indicated he could begin flying on an interim aircraft as soon as February. The plane is a 13-year-old Boeing 747-8i that Qatar has offered to donate and that the Air Force plans to convert for presidential use. Air Force Secretary Troy Meink has said the retrofit will run into the “hundreds of millions of dollars,” while Democratic lawmakers warn the bill could exceed $1 billion. The jet must be outfitted with secure communications, missile-defense countermeasures, aerial refueling capability and protection against electromagnetic-pulse attacks before it can enter service. Boeing is already more than $2.5 billion in the red on its $3.9 billion fixed-price contract for the two VC-25Bs, whose delivery has slipped to 2027 or later. Trump’s twin criticisms—of slow weapons output generally and of the lagging Air Force One program in particular—add fresh pressure on U.S. defense suppliers as the administration seeks quicker turnarounds on high-profile projects.