On this week’s Defense & Aerospace Report Business Roundtable, sponsored by Bell, Dr. “Rocket” Ron Epstein of Bank of America Securities, Sash Tusa of the independent equity research firm Agency Partners, and Richard Aboulafia of the AeroDynamic advisory consultancy join host Vago Muradian to discuss Wall Street reaction including a drop in bond markets the House passed the massive reconciliation package to deliver President Trump’s tax cuts; the president’s decision to impose a 50 percent tariff on EU goods and 25 percent tax on Apple products unless the company shifts production to America; the Golden Dome missile defense system that will cost $170 billion over the coming three years and be led by the vice chief of space operations, Gen Mike Guetlein; the president is said to be serious about his plan for a twin-engine F-35 Lightning II dubbed the F-55; what’s next now that the US Air Force has accepted a Qatari 747-8 jet for use as a presidential transport; the UK-EU deal on trade and security; US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s demand that American companies be allowed to compete for European contracts as nations scramble to spend more to bolster capabilities after Washington moves to reduce focus on Europe; and after a two-hour conversation with Vladimir Putin, Trump decided to leave Moscow and Kyiv to strike a peace deal.

On this week’s Defense & Aerospace Report Business Roundtable, sponsored by Bell, Dr. “Rocket” Ron Epstein of Bank of America Securities, Sash Tusa of the independent equity research firm Agency Partners, and Richard Aboulafia of the AeroDynamic advisory consultancy join host Vago Muradian to discuss a strong week on Wall Street ends in record territory; as lawmakers squabble, Moody’s becomes the third American ratings agency to downgrade US debt; the outlook for tariffs as President Trump declares victory over China; after his swing through the Gulf, the president touts $3.6 trillion in deals, including investment in the United States, new commercial aircraft orders and military sales; after again criticizing the F-35 Lightning II fighter, Trump said a new twin-engine version of the plane, the F-55, would be developed and the F-22 Raptor would be upgraded to a “super” version; US air traffic control is under the gun as outages at Newark International Airport and elsewhere delay flights and undermine public confidence as the administration prepares to make layoffs at the Federal Aviation Administration; and takeaways from BAE Systems’ capital markets day and Bank of America’s industrials, transportation and airlines conference.

On this week’s Defense & Aerospace Report Business Roundtable, sponsored by Bell, Dr. “Rocket” Ron Epstein of Bank of America Securities, Sash Tusa of the independent equity research firm Agency Partners, and Richard Aboulafia of the AeroDynamic advisory consultancy join host Vago Muradian to discuss an unusually quiet down week on Wall Street; India and Pakistan’s military strikes and ceasefire; expectations as US and Chinese trade negotiators convene in Geneva after Washington strikes a preliminary deal with London to ease tariffs, a template, officials say, for future deals to put pressure on Beijing; IAG buys 53 new big jets from Boeing and Airbus for $10 billion; the Commerce Department’s investigation into the national security implications of buying foreign-made aerospace components and jet engines; the German, French, Polish and British leaders’ visit to Kyiv where they announced a 30-day ceasefire with Russia starting on Monday; the Army’s decision to retire AH-64D Apache helicopters in the scout role as well as Grey Eagle and Shadow drones, and the GE’s new T901 engine; Hensoldt, Leonard, MTU, Rheinmetall report earnings; takeaways from the Milken Institute Global Conference; and Stratolaunch’s successful tests of its Talon-A2 reusable hypersonic test vehicle.

On this week’s Defense & Aerospace Report Business Roundtable, sponsored by Bell, Dr. “Rocket” Ron Epstein of Bank of America Securities, Sash Tusa of the independent equity research firm Agency Partners, and Richard Aboulafia of the AeroDynamic advisory consultancy join host Vago Muradian to discuss another up week on Wall Street allowed investors recoup losses since President Trump’s unprecedented tariffs, but strategists warn conditions for sustained growth don’t exist; the administration proposed “skinny budget” to boost defense spending by 13 percent to $1 trillion; China’s openness to tariff talks as Britain’s Chancellor Rachel Reeves calls on Washington to make a deal; frustrated Boeing’s delays on new Air Force Ones, Trump asks L3Harris to convert a former Qatari royal family 747-8 as an interim measure; Washington approves a $350 million deal with Ukraine for F-16 maintenance and training as the CIA’s former director of operations Ralph Goff says that the Biden administration gave Ukraine enough weapons not to lose but not enough to win against Russia; Airbus, AeroCap, Albany International, Bombardier, Crane, Garmin, HEICO, HII, Howmet, Leonardo DRS, and Rolls-Royce report earnings; Boeing’s decision to sell its Jeppeson unit to Thoma Bravo and what it means for the commercial airplane giant’s acquisition of Spirit AeroSystems; and a $3.5 billion missile sale to Saudi Arabia as the president prepares to visit Riyadh, Qatar and the UAE.

On this week’s Defense & Aerospace Report Business Roundtable, sponsored by Bell, Dr. “Rocket” Ron Epstein of Bank of America Securities, Sash Tusa of the independent equity research firm Agency Partners, and Richard Aboulafia of the AeroDynamic advisory consultancy join host Vago Muradian to discuss Wall Street’s up week as President Trump backtracked on firing Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and that Washington was talking to Beijing on a tariff deal — China said no talks were underway — Deutsche Bank predicts a decade-long decline in the dollar as gold soars; a massive earnings week as Babcock, Boeing, GE Aerospace, General Dynamics, Hexcel, L3Harris, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, RTX, Saab, Safran, Teledyne, Textron, and Thales report results; and how Europe’s ESG focus is impeding efforts to re-industrialize.

On this week’s Defense & Aerospace Report Business Roundtable, sponsored by Bell, Dr. “Rocket” Ron Epstein of Bank of America Securities, Sash Tusa of the independent equity research firm Agency Partners, and Richard Aboulafia of the AeroDynamic advisory consultancy join host Vago Muradian to discuss a roller coaster week for world markets as a selloff in US bonds prompted President Trump to pause for 90 days the tariffs he imposed last week; the 10 percent across the board tariffs as well as a 25 percent surcharge on steel and aluminum the president retained; China tariffs of about 150 percent and Beijing retaliation; the bond sell off as yields rose from 3.9 to 4.5 percent and what that means as Congress prepares to borrow more money as lawmakers seek to raise America’s borrowing to cover a massive tax cut package; Delta rescinded its guidance in the fact of uncertainty; Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s decision to cancel $5 billion in services contracts; the outlook for US services firms as the government workforce is culled; the administration’s move to halve NASA’s science budget; how US efforts to normalize relations and trade with Russia will impact aerospace markets; the British government’s decision to keep open a steel plant in Scunthorpe; Indonesia’s interest in partnering with Turkey on the Kaan fighter and a new submarine program; and Boeing NGAD investment in St Louis.

On this week’s Defense & Aerospace Report Business Roundtable, sponsored by Bell, Dr. “Rocket” Ron Epstein of Bank of America Securities, Sash Tusa of the independent equity research firm Agency Partners, and Richard Aboulafia of the AeroDynamic advisory consultancy join host Vago Muradian to discuss global market reaction to President Trump’s sweeping tariffs that are being compared by economists as the largest abrupt tax hikes since the Vietnam war if not World War 2; how aerospace and defense stocks fared as the Standard & Poor’s 500 lost 10 percent of its value in two days driving markets to their worst day since 2020; despite a warning by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent that nations not retaliate otherwise they would face higher tariffs, nations retaliated anyway including China that blocked rare earth exports to the United States; Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell dryly noted that tariffs risk higher inflation and lower economic growth; despite the loss of nearly $6 trillion in market value and damage to America’s reputation as a financial safe harbor, administration officials continued to make the case that the American economy was in tough shape and in dire need of shock therapy even though US stock values hit highs in February; JPMorgan estimated a 60 percent chance of recession this year with some economists worrying about a depression; as aerospace and defense suppliers scramble to cope with Washington’s new tax, Howmet was the first major aerospace firm to declare the tariffs a force majeure event and warn customers it might not be able to deliver as a consequence; and whether defense contracts would be spared from tariffs and how programs cots could be impacted.

On this week’s Defense & Aerospace Report Business Roundtable, sponsored by Bell, Dr. “Rocket” Ron Epstein of Bank of America Securities, Sash Tusa of the independent equity research firm Agency Partners, and Richard Aboulafia of the AeroDynamic advisory consultancy join host Vago Muradian to discuss Wall Street’s down week on investor concerns about inflation and declining consumer confidence putting the Standard and Poor’s 500 on track for its worst quarter since 2022; budget officials warn the US government will run out of money in August unless Congress raises the debt limit; a week after President Trump taps Boeing as the winner of the manned combat aircraft portion of the US Air Force’s Next Generation Air Dominance program, House appropriators propose cutting funding for the new program, the Collaborative Combat Aircraft, and the B-21 Raider bomber; the Washington Post reports the Trump administration is preparing to cut the federal agencies by between 8 and 50 percent as the General Services Administration targets top consulting and IT contractors; Trump imposed a 25 percent tariff on imported cars; European governments continue to step up efforts to bolster defense capabilities even as Italy emerges as a possible spoiler; an inflection point for BAE Systems; RocketLab’s Neutron launch vehicle wins a Space Force contract valued at up to $5.6 billion; air travel continues to decline; and the US Navy’s prepares to announce whether Boeing or Northrop Grumman will win its FA-XX next generation fighter contest.

On this week’s Defense & Aerospace Report Business Roundtable, sponsored by Bell, Dr. “Rocket” Ron Epstein of Bank of America Securities, Sash Tusa of the independent equity research firm Agency Partners, and Richard Aboulafia of the AeroDynamic advisory consultancy join host Vago Muradian to discuss Wall Street fifth down week in a row as Congress avoided a government shutdown, but embraced a full-year continuing resolution; lawmakers work to cut taxes by more than $4 trillion as personnel cuts at the IRS raise concerns that US tax collections will decline by 10 percent; Trump administration budget cuts prompted consulting giant Accenture to issue a profit warning; European nations pledge massive defense spending increases with Germany promising to increase spending by $1 trillion to bolster capabilities; credit agencies worry whether European nations can sustain higher military spending through more debt; from the Oval Office, President Trump announced that the US Air Force picked Boeing over Lockheed Martin to develop and build the manned element of the service’s Next Generation Air Dominance aircraft dubbed the F-47; as passenger traffic declines, the British and German governments issue travel advisories to their citizens traveling to the US; a major fire London’s Heathrow Airport derailed flights worldwide; and takeaways from Bank of America’s industrials conference as well as Joanna Speed’s great Aerospace Event in LA.

On this week’s Defense & Aerospace Report Business Roundtable, sponsored by Bell, Dr. “Rocket” Ron Epstein of Bank of America Securities, Sash Tusa of the independent equity research firm Agency Partners, and Richard Aboulafia of the AeroDynamic advisory consultancy join host Vago Muradian to discuss Wall Street’s fourth down week in a row as President Trump says a recession may be possible before his politics improve the economy and escalates his trade war against Europe and Canada; Congress avoids a government shutdown. but faces a full-year continuing resolution; Canada’s new prime pinister, Mark Carney, asks his defense minister to reconsider the country’s purchase of 88 F-35 Lighting II fighters; as European nations accelerate efforts to build capabilities, interest in additional US weapons abruptly wanes; Portugal reportedly decides against F-35s and Turkey opts for Eurofighters; former Airbus CEO Tom Enders urges Europe to focus on autonomous drones rather than high end platforms to quickly improve capabilities in the face of threats from east and west; and what to expect at Joanna Speed’s annual Aerospace Event in Beverly Hills March 17-18, 2025.