Boeing

Dream on… President Trump hailed Boeing’s $96B deal with Qatar Airways as a historic agreement that “will bolster American manufacturing and technological leadership, and put America on the path to a new Golden Age.”

If he wants to tout the new Golden Age of US manufacturing, the president is going to have to look elsewhere.

Does anybody believe Boeing can pull off constructing up to 210 wide body jets, including the largest-ever order for its 787 Dreamliner and orders for its new 777-9 aircraft?

Stephanie Pope, CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said the record-breaking order from Qatar Airways "solidifies their future fleet with our market-leading widebody airplane family at its center. Our team is looking forward to building 787s and 777s for Qatar Airways into the next decade." We'll see how that turns out.

The beleaguered aerospace company couldn’t even deliver on its contract for two Air Force One planes by the December 2024 deadline.

The Air Force One program is now delayed until 2029 or years later due to supply chain issues and changing requirements.

Trump is supposed to be out of office by then. That’s why he is accepting a gift of a $400M luxury jet from Qatar.

The president doesn’t think he should be jetting around in the Air Force One planes that are 35 years old. He is not fazed by the taint of corruption and bribery connected to the plane.

“I could be a stupid person and say, ‘Oh no, we don’t want a free plane,'” he said of the tribute offered to him by the terror-sponsoring royals of Qatar.

Taking Trump as a sucker...But the crafty Qataris, who have been trying to unload the gas-guzzling Boeing 747 jumbo jet "palace-in-the-sky" since 2020, are taking the "dealmaker-commander-in-chief" for a ride, according to Forbes.

“Qatar, like many modern states, is shifting toward leaner, more versatile aircraft, which offer better economics and more discreet presence for official travel,” Linus Bauer, managing director of aviation consulting firm BAA & Partners.

Unloading the plane to Trump would be a “a creative disposal strategy” that marks “a farewell to a bygone model of geopolitical theater in the skies,” added Bauer.

The great PT Barnum, who believed "a sucker is born every minute," would have applaud the Qatar royals on Trump's gift.

The big question: will Trump, who never admits defeat or that he's been screwed, take the jet. Of course, he will.

Misery continues for FTI Consulting as Econic poaches two more key executives, according to a report in the Financial Times.

Econic is the firm launched in December by Jon Orszag, who spent more than 20 years at FTI after the company acquired Compass Lexicon, economic consulting firm.

The firm added FTI's Kirsten Edwards-Warren, who was co-head of the Europe, Middle East and Africa economic consulting business, and Enrique Andreu, head of Brussels.

FTI sued Orszag in 2023, accusing him of plotting to start a rival firm, and he countersued. The case is currently in federal court.

Its stock price has come under pressure because of fallout from Orszag’s exit from the firm, according to the FT.

CEO Steve Gunby told analysts in a Q1 earnings call that about 10 percent of the economic division staff had left the firm, requiring it to hike pay and bonuses, and hire replacements.

He reported a three percent drop in Q1 revenues to $898.3M and a 21 percent fall in operating income to $78.7M.

FTI’s stock trades at $164.56. That’s closer to its 52-week low of $151.75 than its $243.60 high.