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, in an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” revealed the government’s interest in taking those stakes days after the U.S. government acquired 10% of Intel stock in a roughly $9 billion deal.
Lutnick was asked if the Trump administration would repeat that move with other companies that do business with the government.
“Oh there’s a monstrous discussion about defense,” Lutnick replied.
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.”
Lockheed is the world’s top defense company by revenue, according to DefenseNews’ 2024 list. Other top U.S. contractors include RTX, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics and Boeing.
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