During a July 18th meeting in the Oval Office, which was held in secret and is just now being reported out by NBC news, CEOs of some of the biggest airline employers in the states (and other interested parties) met with Trump, Mulvaney and the new PressSec to protest that three middle-east carriers — Emirates, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways — are subsidized by their governments and undercutting their businesses.
Trump responded by ridiculing American Airline’s CEO Doug Parker for his stock prices, fixating on Delta Chief Ed Bastian’s decision to not show and told the Americans to take it up with his Department of Transportation — where it is NBC’s determination that they will lose.
USA Today
“The three CEOs outlined their problems with government subsidies given the airlines -- Emirates, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways -- by Qatar and the United Arab Emirates in an op-ed published by USA TODAY on July 15.
"Subsidies allow these carriers to fly money-losing flights in a way no rational commercial airline could afford," the three CEOs wrote.
They added, "This administration knows a trade violation when it sees one. The United States must act decisively to hold Qatar and the UAE accountable. Failure to do so would reward bad behavior and signal to other countries that they too are free to exploit American workers. That is a dangerous precedent that our airline workers and our country cannot afford."
Trump, according to NBC News, made fun of Parker for American Airlines' stock prices and "repeatedly harped on Bastian's absence."
NBC News reported in order to get Trump's attention, the three American CEOs placed ads on Fox News.”
There you have it, folks: America First!
Or maybe second or third... but if you want a hearing make sure you go on Fox News.
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[cross-posted to PolitiZoom]