Trump Pentagon is ‘thinking’ about taking equity stakes in defense contractors, says Lutnick

Trump administration military leaders are “thinking about” whether the U.S. should acquire equity stakes in top defense contractors such as Lockheed Martin, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Tuesday.

The Cabinet secretary revealed the government’s interest in taking those stakes after being asked on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” if the administration planned to repeat its recent acquisition in Intel with other companies.

“Oh there’s a monstrous discussion about defense,” Lutnick said.

Lockheed, which makes most of its revenue from federal contracts, is “basically an arm of the U.S. government,” he said.

“But what’s the economics of that? I’m going to leave that to my Secretary of Defense and the deputy Secretary of Defense,” he added.

“These guys are on it and they’re thinking about it.”