Trump targets F-35, but aircraft means jobs in 45 states

[...] congressional Republicans and Democrats, aware of the tens of thousands of jobs the aircraft generates in 45 states, will be wary of any plans by Trump to cut the program.

A Monday morning tweet from Trump targeting the F-35 doesn't explain exactly how he'll save billions of dollars in military purchases while also honoring a campaign vow to rebuild the armed forces.

[...] Congress, not the president, controls the government's purse strings and makes the final decisions about the budget.

Built by defense giant Lockheed Martin, the nearly $400 billion price tag for the F-35 makes the program the Pentagon's most expensive weapons acquisition ever.

While the F-35 had massive budget overruns early on, the cost has stabilized and even dropped a bit following tough negotiations between the Pentagon and Lockheed Martin, according to Todd Harrison, a defense budget expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

The company is teamed with more than 1,250 domestic suppliers to produce thousands of components ranging from highly sophisticated radar sensors to parts of the aircraft's fuselage, according to Lockheed Martin.