Lockheed CEO vows again to cut F-35 costs, tells Trump 1,800 jobs will be added in Fort Worth

WASHINGTON — Under pressure from President-elect Donald Trump to cut costs for the F-35 fighter jet program, Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn Hewson visited Trump Tower on Friday for a second meeting with Trump, previewing a deal to satisfy him and promising more jobs in Fort Worth.

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Democratic Fort Worth Rep. Marc Veasey, a member of the House Armed Services committee, calls the F-35 program "the most important defense project we've seen in many generations."

"In order for us to continue to have the superior air capability and strike capability that we need going into the future to evade any new radar detections that are out there, we have to have F-35," Veasey told The Dallas Morning News this week.

"If we don't have it, we're going to be putting ourselves at very vulnerable risk," he added, "and [Trump] should be more responsible with his tweets and the things he says because he's affecting the livelihoods of 14,000 workers in the North Texas area and many more elsewhere."