President Donald Trump has been unabashed in his criticisms of military costs and his proactive efforts with defense contractors to do something about it.
However, experts warn Trump could cause legal problems for the Pentagon if he skirts the processes for acquisitions in place to ensure fair competition, the Washington Examiner reported.
Trump, so far, has met with CEOs from Boeing and Lockheed Martin to talk about costs of the F-35, F/A-18 programs and those of Air Force One, talked with the general in charge of the F-35 program, and invited the Boeing CEO to listen in on a call about a Lockheed Martin initiative, the Examiner reported.
In doing so, Trump bypassed several layers in the chain of command for acquisitions at the defense department, the Examiner reported.
"It's muddying the waters. There are strict standards for the way defense acquisitions are supposed to be handled, especially with competitive and sensitive information," Todd Harrison, a director at the Center for Strategic and International Studies told the Examiner.
"Some of these actions could be violating that, those processes and regulations. So I think they have to be really careful here that they don't create a bigger mess down the road," Harrison told the Examiner.
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