President Donald Trump singled out Raytheon on Wednesday in his sweeping criticism of the defense industry, threatening to cut the company’s government contracts if it didn’t invest more in plants and equipment.
Trump called out Raytheon by name after earlier saying he wouldn’t allow defense firms to do buybacks or pay dividends until they speed up production. The president said Raytheon has been “the least responsive” to the government’s needs, slow in increasing volume, and has prioritized returning capital to shareholders over the military’s priorities.
“Either Raytheon steps up, and starts investing in more upfront Investment like Plants and Equipment, or they will no longer be doing business with” the government, Trump said in a Truth Social post.
A spokesperson for RTX Corporation, formerly known as Raytheon, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider. The company rebranded as RTX in 2023 following a merger with United Technologies Corporation.
Earlier in the day, Trump fired a broadside at the entire defense industry, posting on Truth Social that he would “not permit” further stock buybacks or dividends to be issued to shareholders. Trump also said that until defense companies build “NEW and MODERN Production Plants” their executives’ pay should be capped at $5 million.
Like its competitors, shares of RTX dropped after Trump’s initial post about the industry. RTX rebounded in early after-hours trading, trending up more than 3% as of 6 p.m. ET.
It’s unclear why Trump singled out Raytheon in particular. The company has a history of returning capital to shareholders. Raytheon announced a $10 billion buyback plan in 2023 and says it has paid a dividend every year since 1936.
Last year, the company paid out a dividend in March. It’s unclear if Trump’s statement will affect those plans or even the extent to which a president could prohibit a publicly traded company from fulfilling its previously declared financial obligations.
Trump has frequently used the presidential bully pulpit to criticize companies and their CEOs. In August 2025, Trump called for Intel to fire its CEO Lip-Bu Tan, only to later change his stance after the US government acquired a roughly 10% stake in the chipmaker.
It is less common for Trump to directly threaten a company’s government contracts, although he has done so as well.
In July 2025, Trump threatened to cut off Elon Musk’s companies from government contracts during a heated back-and-forth with the world’s richest person. Since then, Trump has reconciled with the billionaire.
Read the full article here
