President Trump reportedly berated representatives of the three largest U.S. airlines during a July Oval Office meeting, according to NBC News.
The CEOs of American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines have been seeking Trump’s aid in a years-long skirmish with airlines based in Gulf nations and have been running ads on Fox News to try to get his attention.
{mosads}In the hour-long meeting, Trump reportedly asked American CEO Doug Parker why the airline’s stock price had fallen despite a surging market. He also took Delta to task over the fact that CEO Ed Bastian didn’t attend the meeting and because it purchased planes from Airbus instead of Boeing, according to NBC.
Trump noted that Qatar Airways purchased jets from Boeing, according to NBC.
In addition to the CEOs of United and American, the meeting was attended by acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, Sen. James Risch (R-Idaho), White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham, national security adviser John Bolton, National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow and trade adviser Peter Navarro, according to NBC.
“The president kept going back to it,” one person who attended the meeting told NBC News. “There was a lot of yelling.”
Trump also reportedly took a dig at Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker after he called the American and United CEOs “liars,” telling Al Baker he takes money from the Qatari government.
The “Big Three” carriers have argued Qatar Airways and United Arab Emirates-based airlines are undercutting them, aided by government subsidies. In particular, they have argued that Air Italy’s addition of new flights between Milan and the U.S. after Qatar Airways bought a stake is an end-run around the U.S.-Qatar “Open Skies” agreement.
The Partnership for Open and Fair Skies, which represents the airlines, said the meeting had been “productive,” while United CEO Oscar Munoz said the airline looked forward to “continuing to work with the administration,” according to NBC News.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill.