Trump Opens Dialogue With Defense Industry Leaders

Leaders of seven top defense firms in a meeting with President Donald Trump on March 6 appeared to reaffirm agreements to increase production of in-demand munitions and agreed to ongoing discussions with the White House on capacity increases amid the ongoing war in Iran.

Trump in a March 6 social media post said the meeting included leaders from BAE Systems, Boeing, Honeywell Aerospace, L3Harris Mission Solutions, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon. The White House summoned the companies to the building earlier in the week amid concerns about stockpiles of munitions that have seen heavy use across the Middle East amid the bombing of Iran.

“They have agreed to quadruple production of ‘exquisite class’ weaponry in that we want to reach, as rapidly as possible, the highest levels of quantity,” Trump said on Truth Social.

He did not specifically call out the weapons discussed, but broadly named three categories—exquisite class, along with a “virtually unlimited supply” of medium and upper-medium-grade weapons. The munitions are being used both in Iran and the recent operation to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.

Trump said expansion of the weapons production began three months ago, seemingly alluding to Pentagon agreements from January to increase capacity with three firms. The department reached an agreement with Lockheed Martin to raise Patriot PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhanced interceptors from 600 to 2,000 per year. There was also an agreement with RTX to increase production of Tomahawk cruise missiles and a $1 billion influx of spending to raise production of solid rocket motors with L3Harris.

There will be another meeting in two months, Trump said, adding that “states all over the country are bidding for these new plants” without specifying the companies, weapons or timeline for new facilities.