“推特治国”特朗普炮轰波音 嫌太贵！[E545]
近日特朗普在推特上再次开火，炮轰美国飞机制造商波音公司，并称将取消波音公司的订单。据悉，波音公司正在为未来的美国总统制造一架新的“空军一号”专机，而特朗普认为，该项目超过40亿美元的造价过高，十分荒谬（ridiculous）。
Trump Criticizes Boeing Deal To Develop New Air Force One
December 6, 2016 4:39 PM ET
NPR NEWS
ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
President-elect Donald Trump is lashing out[1] again on Twitter, this time at the Boeing Company. He tweeted this morning that customized 747s[定制的波音747] meant to replace Air Force One[空军一号] are too expensive and the order should be canceled. He spoke to reporters later in the day in the Trump Tower lobby.
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DONALD TRUMP: The plane is totally out of control. It's going to be over $4 billion. It's for Air Force One program. And I think it's ridiculous. I think Boeing is doing a little bit of a number. We want Boeing to make a lot of money but not that much money.
SHAPIRO: Joining us now is NPR's David Schaper in our Chicago bureau. And David, explain why the government is ordering these new airplanes from Boeing and whether they will really cost $4 billion.
DAVID SCHAPER, BYLINE: Well, first of all, these are two planes in the Air Force One program. There are always two of the jumbo jets[大型喷气式客机] that are identical so that the president has access to one while the other is undergoing maintenance. The last order was under President Reagan. And the planes were delivered under the term of the first President Bush in the early '90s.
They're designed to last about 30 years. So it is about time for the Air Force to order a new Air Force One planes. The Government Accountability Office[美国政府问责局], which is the auditing arm[审计部门] of the federal government, estimated that this program should cost about $3.2 billion between 2010 and 2020. So it's not really clear where the president-elect's $4 billion figure comes from.
[注]美国政府问责局（Government Accountability Office,GAO）是美国国会的下属机构，负责调查、监督联邦政府的规划和支出，其前身是美国总审计局。
SHAPIRO: Whether it's $3.2 or $4 billion over 10 years, it does seem like a lot of money for two airplanes.
SCHAPER: It does. But Boeing calls these planes really a flying Oval Office[(移动的)总统办公室]. It's got 4,000 square feet of space, a conference room, a medical suite. There's a bedroom. And because these planes can refuel midair[空中加油], they have an unlimited flying range. All that plus maintaining the aircraft once they're delivered could possibly push up the price tag to or above that $4 billion figure given by the president-elect. But again, neither he nor his staff would say where that figure came from.
SHAPIRO: What was Boeing's reaction? Is it conceivable[2] that a European conglomerate[3], Airbus, Boeing's chief competitor, could be in the running to produce Air Force One?
SCHAPER: I really think that that's almost unthinkable because of politics in the U.S. Boeing has a long history of making the airplanes that fly the American president dating back to the days of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the early 1940s. But this latest controversy over the cost of the project did seem to catch the aerospace giant[航空巨头] a little bit by surprise.
In a statement, The Boeing Company today says that, we are currently under contract for $170 million to help determine the capabilities of these complex military aircraft. So Boeing has not yet been awarded the rest of the money to develop and build the aircraft.
But we should note that Air Force One represents a very small portion of the business the company has with the U.S. government. It's a giant government contractor and - with defense and in aerospace and other programs. Boeing's stock price[股价] did dip[4] about 1 percent after the president-elect's tweet. But it recovered all of what it had lost, and the stock price just pretty much closed unchanged.
SHAPIRO: Do you think the president-elect is trying to send a message to Boeing and other government contractors here?
SCHAPER: You know it's still not really clear what the intent of Mr. Trump's tweet was. But this tweet about out-of-control costs also comes from the president-elect on a day The Washington Post has a story exposing widespread waste and cost overruns[费用超支;成本超支] at the Pentagon. Whether or not Mr. Trump was adding the new Air Force One as another example of that I can't really say. But his spokesman did allude to[5] that in a conference call with reporters today - that this could be all about government spending. And that's what his supporters - Trump's supporters - want him to get rid of.
SHAPIRO: That's NPR's David Schaper speaking with us from Chicago. Thanks, David.
SCHAPER: Thank you, Ari.
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注释
[1]lash out：to suddenly attack someone or something physically or criticize him, her, or it in an angry way （突然）狠打，痛打；抨击，斥责
I was only teasing him and suddenly he lashed out(at me) and hit me in the face.
我只是在和他闹着玩，他却突然动起手来，一拳打在我的脸上。
Why's Tina in such a bad mood? She really lashed out at me when I was late for work.
蒂娜为什么情绪这么糟糕？我上班迟到了她就对我大发雷霆。
[2]conceivable：possible to imagine or to believe 可想象的；可想到的；可以相信的
Books on every conceivable subject lined one wall.
靠墙一排排地摆放着所有能想得到的各学科的书。
[3]conglomerate [kən'ɡlɒmərət]
a company that owns several smaller businesses whose products or services are usually very different 联合大企业，企业集团
a financial/industrial conglomerate
金融／工业企业集团
[4]dip：to go down to a lower level 下降，下落
As you turn the corner, the road dips suddenly.
转过那个街角，路陡然下降。
The sun dipped below the horizon.
太阳落到了地平线以下。
[5]allude to：to mention someone or something without talking about him, her, or it directly 影射，暗指；间接提到
She mentioned some trouble that she'd had at home and I guessed she was alluding to her son.
她提到家中有些麻烦事儿，我猜她是指她的儿子。
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