On X, the mercurial president took direct aim at Raytheon, now RTX, the world's No. 2 defense group behind Lockheed Martin, and notably a designer of the famous Patriot air-defense battery systems, Tomahawk cruise missiles and Javelin anti-tank weapons.
While MarketScreener often keeps its distance from Donald Trump's fanciful outbursts, most recently in the case of Venezuela, it must be acknowledged that he is putting his finger on a very real problem here.
That major US defense groups are run first and foremost in the interests of their shareholders is beyond doubt, and the parties concerned have had every reason to be pleased about that so far.
However, there is also no doubt that excessive consolidation in the sector has hampered innovation; driven up prices for taxpayers; and led groups such as Lockheed Martin and Raytheon to make only timid expansions of capacity, despite repeated calls from the executive branch.
The American president's grievances against RTX are borne out by the numbers. Over the past decade, including changes in scope, the Arlington-based group has generated aggregate cash profit - or free cash flow - of $34bn.
Over the period, it also returned $50bn to shareholders, through $23bn in share buybacks and $27bn paid out in dividends. That is twice the amount it invested in property, plant and equipment, which totaled $25bn.
If acquisitions - net of disposals - are also included in these investments, the figure reaches $31bn, still far less than the avalanche of profits reserved for shareholders.
It is not easy to write this, but it must nevertheless be said: on this point, Donald Trump is not wrong.
