Nicolle Wallace Unloads on Trump's ‘Perverted' Military Parade
Wallace, guest-hosting Pod Save America with former Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau on Friday, discussed 'the North Korean-style birthday party' Trump has 'wanted for years.'
'This is so perverted from what's normal,' Wallace said of Trump's usurping the Army's 250th birthday for his own celebration. As Trump's team reportedly screened the military members in the audience for allegiance and physical appearance ahead of his Fort Bragg speech Tuesday, Wallace wondered aloud, 'Who else is being vetted? Who else is being staged? Who else is being pushed out of the picture for being fat? I mean, what else is really happening there?'
Trump's military parade is expected to take place Saturday at 6:30 p.m. ET. The president's birthday celebration will cost taxpayers an estimated $45 million, but Wallace said Trump's 'perversion' of the non-partisan military will cost Americans more than just tax dollars long-term. 'I think that we probably only see the tip of the iceberg,' she said.
The Fort Bragg speech, which served as a 'pre-celebration' of sorts for the president, featured men and women in uniform booing Democrats. Wallace, a former communications director for George W. Bush, reflected on the traditional separation of politics from the U.S. military.
'You and I both wrote speeches for presidents that were delivered in front of troops,' she said. 'You're cognizant that the applause lines don't have anything to do with your president's policies because you don't want them to look like they have to applaud a policymaker.'
'You craft the speeches so that there's only an applause when you're celebrating the men and women of the military, either their current courage or their historic greatness,' she continued. For Trump to have encouraged and cherry-picked uniformed military members into a divisive display of loyalty to one side is troubling, Wallace said, but not surprising.
'To see this event at Fort Bragg and to see the way they are gleefully and brazenly using troops as pawns—the greatest victim of that is the troops, is the military,' she said. 'And I think it's actually shocking that the Republican senators are complicit.'
Wallace went on to express little hope that any Republican lawmakers will speak out. 'Where are the people who are still willing to sort of put their body between brazen partisanship and the military?' she asked. 'In the Republican Party, there aren't any.'
'Even the former generals are afraid to speak out, or restrained from speaking out,' Wallace said, but she maintained that she will not be keeping quiet.
'I'm not not scared. I just don't think it makes me safer to be quiet,' she explained. 'I feel that way as a cable host. I'm not not concerned that they're not looking for anyone in the media to make a mistake and then come after the media. I just don't think you're in a safer posture in a defensive crouch.'
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Trump tariffs live updates: Trump announces Vietnam deal as US-China trade tensions ease
The US has eased export restrictions on China for chip design software and ethane, a sign that trade tensions are calming between the two countries. Software firms like Synopsys (SNPS), Cadence (CDNS) and Siemans (SIEGY) said they will now sell their chip design tools to Chinese customers again. The US also removed limits on ethane exports to China that it had set just weeks ago. President Trump on Wednesday said he had reached a trade deal with Vietnam, one week ahead of a July 9 deadline for tariffs to snap back to higher levels for US partners. Trump said Vietnam's goods imported to the US would face a 20% tariff, lower than the 46% tariff he had levied as part of his "Liberation Day" plans but higher than the blanket 10% tariff currently in effect. He also said Vietnamese goods would face a higher 40% tariff "on any transshipping" — when goods shipped from Vietnam originate from another country, like China. Trump said that US goods exported to Vietnam would not face a tariff. "In other words, they will 'OPEN THEIR MARKET TO THE UNITED STATES,'" Trump wrote on Truth Social. The deal would be the second the US has struck with a trade partner since Trump paused those sky-high "Liberation Day" duties, in addition to a pact with the United Kingdom. The US has also agreed with China on a framework to move toward a larger trade deal. Trump's July 9 deadline has come back in focus in recent weeks as more countries struggle to get over the hump. Trump earlier this week said negotiations with Japan had soured, saying he would force Japan to accept higher tariffs of "30%, 35%, or whatever the number is that we determine." Notably, that proposal is higher than the 24% "Liberation Day" level. 'I'm not sure we're going to make a deal," Trump said. "I doubt it with Japan. They're very tough. You have to understand, they're very spoiled." With Japan as his jumping-off point, Trump renewed threats that he may stick to his self-imposed July 9 deadline for making trade deals and issue new tariff levels to trading partners, forgoing another pause to "Liberation Day" duties. "I'll be writing letters to a lot of countries," he said. Meanwhile, the European Union has signaled it was willing to accept a 10% universal tariff on many of its exports but is seeking exemptions for pharmaceuticals, alcohol, semiconductors, and commercial aircraft as part of a trade deal. On the North American front, Canada has scrapped its digital services tax that was set to affect large US technology companies. The White House said trade talks between the two countries had resumed after Trump threatened to cut off trade talks. Read more: What Trump's tariffs mean for the economy and your wallet Here are the latest updates as the policy reverberates around the world. The US has removed export restrictions on chip design software and ethane shipments to China, easing trade tensions between the two countries. China recently made concessions over its rare earth export controls. Software companies Synopsys (SNPS), Cadence (CDNS) and Siemens (SIEGY) said they will now restore access for their Chinese customers. These firms develop important electronic design automation tools used in chipmaking. The US also lifted licensing rules for ethane producers. Earlier restrictions were part of Trump's response to China blocking rare earth exports, which had disrupted supply chains for cars, aerospace and defence industries. Reuters reports: Read more here. President Trump had targeted Vietnam with some of the highest tariffs of any country on his April "Liberation Day." That's at least partly because he and top advisers have made Vietnam an example of a country that is allegedly "ripping off" the US. Vietnam has become the US's 10th-largest trade partner, according to US Census data. And it is the seventh-largest source of imports, sending goods worth over $130 billion. It contains factories for some of the biggest US-based apparel makers, including Nike (NKE) and Lululemon (LULU). Vietnam became a destination for companies looking to diversify manufacturing as US-China tensions escalated over the past decade. Vietnam's trade surplus with the US ballooned to over $123 billion last year. This year's US trade deficit with Vietnam stood over $50 billion through just April as companies raced to move more operations out of China. President Trump followed up his previous announcement of a trade deal with Vietnam with some additional details on social media. "It is my Great Honor to announce that I have just made a Trade Deal with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam after speaking with To Lam, the Highly Respected General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam," Trump posted on Truth Social. Trump wrote that the two sides agreed to a 20% tariff rate on all goods sent from Vietnam to the US and a 40% tariff rate on transshipment — essentially, when goods from China or other countries are routed through Vietnam. Tariffs on goods from the country were previously set to return to 46% on July 9. Vietnam also lowered tariffs on US goods to zero, Trump said, and is lowering trade barriers. The president suggested US automakers could introduce more SUVs to the Southeast Asian country. "In return, Vietnam will do something that they have never done before, give the United States of America TOTAL ACCESS to their Markets for Trade," Trump wrote. "In other words, they will 'OPEN THEIR MARKET TO THE UNITED STATES,' meaning that, we will be able to sell our product into Vietnam at ZERO Tariff." The US and Vietnam are said to be very close to a establishing a trade framework that will see goods given a scaled range of tariffs depending on the percentage of foreign content, according to people familiar with the talks. Reuters reports: Read more here. Tariffs have hit electric vehicle maker, Rivian (RIVN) who reported a sharp fall in second-quarter deliveries on Wednesday as demand for its EVs took a hit from competition and tariff-driven economic uncertainty. Reuters reports: Read more here. President Trump said that his administration has struck a preliminary trade agreement with Vietnam a week before the self-imposed deadline of July 9. "I just made a Trade Deal with Vietnam. Details to follow!" Trump posted on Truth Social. While we don't yet know the details of the deal, Vietnam had been seeking to secure tariffs in the range of 20% to 25%, below Trump's "Liberation Day" rate of 46% for goods from the country, according to a Bloomberg report. The US had been looking to stop the flow of goods from China that had been rerouted through Vietnam to circumvent tariffs. Vietnam had offered to remove all tariffs on US goods and step up trade enforcement, according to people familiar with the talks. When President Trump imposed his 25% tariffs on imported Japanese cars, the expectation had been higher sticker prices for US consumers and a drop in sales. It was expected that the added costs to exporters would be passed on to the consumer. However, the policy has been in place for months and the outcomes has proven far less intense. Bloomberg News reports: Japanese automakers' US sales have shown surprising resilience. Toyota (TM), for example, hit a global sales record in May, with North America sales up more than a tenth. Part of that is thanks to their local US production. Read more here. A key group of US employers would face direct costs of $82.3 billion from President Donald Trump's current tariff plans. These costs could lead companies to hike prices, layoff staff, lead to hiring freezes and lower profit margins, according to analysis by the JP Morgan Institute. AP reports: Read more here. Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has blasted American cars, saying they are a tough sell in Japan. Ishiba added that his government needs to discuss with the US how to boost car imports from America. Bloomberg News reports: Read more here. As the US gets ready to celebrate its Independence Day on July 4, the day it was liberated and rebelled against British rule, there is still one area that it may still be dependent on and thats China. Bloomberg News reports: Read more here. For many companies, the process from manufacture to sales has always started in China. When Plufl co-founders, Yuki Kinsohita and Noah Sliverman, began making dog beds for humans and pitched their prototype to Shark Tank in 2022, they envisioned making their plush, memory foam beds in China and selling them at retail in the US for $299. Mark Cuban and Lori Greiner both invested $200,000 for a 20% share in the business, which went on to make over $1 million in sales in 2023, via Amazon and on their company website. However, this dream changed overnight when President Trump slapped a 145% tariff on items imported from China in April. The business leaders sprang into action and started to look at retailers and whether they would be interested in selling a US-made version of the human dog beds. Reuters reports: Read more here. The risk that tariffs pose to the global economy have never been more real and now for Italy the macroeconomic pressures that President Trump's tariffs bring are very concerning, with the head of the main Italian lobby saying on Wednesday that Italy risks losing around $23.6 billion in exports and 118,000 jobs if the US imposes tariffs of 10%. Reuters reports: Read more here. If investors are expecting a seasonal lift for Asian equities this summer, they may have to think again. Tariff pressures and macroeconomic concerns have started to dampen sentiment. Bloomberg News reports: Read more here. For several months, the back and forth between the US and Japan has been an ongoing concern as the two parties attempt to reach a trade deal and avoid skyrocketing tariffs. Now Trump has threatened Japan with tariffs of up to 35%. This is a worst-case scenario for Japan and has started to raise doubts over Tokyo's tactics in trade talks. "Japan should be forced to pay 30% or 35% or whatever number we determine, because we have a very big trade deficit with Japan," Trump said on Tuesday, calling the country "spoiled." Experts have warned about taking Trump's comments at face value and believe that a deal will get done. However, they have also said that now is perhaps the time for Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to take a less friendly stance when it comes to trade negotiations. 'There is some risk of a US tantrum that results in higher punitive actions by Washington this month,' said Kurt Tong, a former senior US diplomat in Asia who's now a managing partner at the Asia Group. 'If that happens, Japan may have no choice but to hit back with its own specific countermeasures.' Bloomberg News reports: Read more here. President Trump on Tuesday, amid days of renewed whiplash on the tariff front, suggested he wouldn't extend a July 9 deadline for higher tariffs to resume on trade partners. He also threatened a tariff level on goods from Japan that would be higher than those he levied on the country in April. From Bloomberg: Notably, that 30% or 35% would be a higher level than the 24% he had laid out as part of his "Liberation Day" duties. Bloomberg added that Trump "sounded more optimistic" about an agreement with India. Read more here. US manufacturing remained weak in June. New orders were low and input costs went up slightly. This shows Trump's tariffs on imports are still making it hard for businesses to plan. Reuters reports: Read more here. The European Union has hardened its stance in trade trade talks with US President Donald Trump and are insisting the US drops its tariffs on the EU immediately as part of any framework deal ahead of the July 9 deadline. Trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič has been told he must take a tougher line on his trip to Washington this week as Brussels attempts to remove or at least cut Trump's levies in the long term. The FT reports: Read more here. Bloomberg reports: Read more here. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said that tariffs are causing the central bank to take its time before cutting interest rates. Powell is speaking today about the Fed's policy stance at an ECB forum in Sintra, Portugal. When asked if the Fed would have cut interest rates by more by now if it weren't for higher tariffs, Powell stated, "I think that's right." "In effect, we went on hold when we saw the size of the tariffs," Powell continued. "Essentially, all inflation forecasts for the United States went up materially as a consequence of the tariffs." Powell noted that the US economy remains healthy overall but that he expects to see the effects of tariffs if they filter through the economic data in the coming months. In recent days, Powell has faced increased pressure from President Trump to lower interest rates, including in the form of handwritten notes. "Ignore the tariffs for a second," Powell said of the economy. "Inflation is behaving pretty much exactly as we have expected and hoped that it would. We haven't seen effects much yet from tariffs, and we didn't expect to by now." Watch Powell speak live below: Perhaps the moral of this story really is — as Amex likes to say — "Don't leave home without it." Nowhere was this more true than for CEO Robert Keeley, who when faced with an $11,000 tariff bill decided to cash in 1.83 million American Express reward points to pay it. Bloomberg News reports: Read more here. The US has removed export restrictions on chip design software and ethane shipments to China, easing trade tensions between the two countries. China recently made concessions over its rare earth export controls. Software companies Synopsys (SNPS), Cadence (CDNS) and Siemens (SIEGY) said they will now restore access for their Chinese customers. These firms develop important electronic design automation tools used in chipmaking. The US also lifted licensing rules for ethane producers. Earlier restrictions were part of Trump's response to China blocking rare earth exports, which had disrupted supply chains for cars, aerospace and defence industries. Reuters reports: Read more here. President Trump had targeted Vietnam with some of the highest tariffs of any country on his April "Liberation Day." That's at least partly because he and top advisers have made Vietnam an example of a country that is allegedly "ripping off" the US. Vietnam has become the US's 10th-largest trade partner, according to US Census data. And it is the seventh-largest source of imports, sending goods worth over $130 billion. It contains factories for some of the biggest US-based apparel makers, including Nike (NKE) and Lululemon (LULU). Vietnam became a destination for companies looking to diversify manufacturing as US-China tensions escalated over the past decade. Vietnam's trade surplus with the US ballooned to over $123 billion last year. This year's US trade deficit with Vietnam stood over $50 billion through just April as companies raced to move more operations out of China. President Trump followed up his previous announcement of a trade deal with Vietnam with some additional details on social media. "It is my Great Honor to announce that I have just made a Trade Deal with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam after speaking with To Lam, the Highly Respected General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam," Trump posted on Truth Social. Trump wrote that the two sides agreed to a 20% tariff rate on all goods sent from Vietnam to the US and a 40% tariff rate on transshipment — essentially, when goods from China or other countries are routed through Vietnam. Tariffs on goods from the country were previously set to return to 46% on July 9. Vietnam also lowered tariffs on US goods to zero, Trump said, and is lowering trade barriers. The president suggested US automakers could introduce more SUVs to the Southeast Asian country. "In return, Vietnam will do something that they have never done before, give the United States of America TOTAL ACCESS to their Markets for Trade," Trump wrote. "In other words, they will 'OPEN THEIR MARKET TO THE UNITED STATES,' meaning that, we will be able to sell our product into Vietnam at ZERO Tariff." The US and Vietnam are said to be very close to a establishing a trade framework that will see goods given a scaled range of tariffs depending on the percentage of foreign content, according to people familiar with the talks. Reuters reports: Read more here. Tariffs have hit electric vehicle maker, Rivian (RIVN) who reported a sharp fall in second-quarter deliveries on Wednesday as demand for its EVs took a hit from competition and tariff-driven economic uncertainty. Reuters reports: Read more here. President Trump said that his administration has struck a preliminary trade agreement with Vietnam a week before the self-imposed deadline of July 9. "I just made a Trade Deal with Vietnam. Details to follow!" Trump posted on Truth Social. While we don't yet know the details of the deal, Vietnam had been seeking to secure tariffs in the range of 20% to 25%, below Trump's "Liberation Day" rate of 46% for goods from the country, according to a Bloomberg report. The US had been looking to stop the flow of goods from China that had been rerouted through Vietnam to circumvent tariffs. Vietnam had offered to remove all tariffs on US goods and step up trade enforcement, according to people familiar with the talks. When President Trump imposed his 25% tariffs on imported Japanese cars, the expectation had been higher sticker prices for US consumers and a drop in sales. It was expected that the added costs to exporters would be passed on to the consumer. However, the policy has been in place for months and the outcomes has proven far less intense. Bloomberg News reports: Japanese automakers' US sales have shown surprising resilience. Toyota (TM), for example, hit a global sales record in May, with North America sales up more than a tenth. Part of that is thanks to their local US production. Read more here. A key group of US employers would face direct costs of $82.3 billion from President Donald Trump's current tariff plans. These costs could lead companies to hike prices, layoff staff, lead to hiring freezes and lower profit margins, according to analysis by the JP Morgan Institute. AP reports: Read more here. Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has blasted American cars, saying they are a tough sell in Japan. Ishiba added that his government needs to discuss with the US how to boost car imports from America. Bloomberg News reports: Read more here. As the US gets ready to celebrate its Independence Day on July 4, the day it was liberated and rebelled against British rule, there is still one area that it may still be dependent on and thats China. Bloomberg News reports: Read more here. For many companies, the process from manufacture to sales has always started in China. When Plufl co-founders, Yuki Kinsohita and Noah Sliverman, began making dog beds for humans and pitched their prototype to Shark Tank in 2022, they envisioned making their plush, memory foam beds in China and selling them at retail in the US for $299. Mark Cuban and Lori Greiner both invested $200,000 for a 20% share in the business, which went on to make over $1 million in sales in 2023, via Amazon and on their company website. However, this dream changed overnight when President Trump slapped a 145% tariff on items imported from China in April. The business leaders sprang into action and started to look at retailers and whether they would be interested in selling a US-made version of the human dog beds. Reuters reports: Read more here. The risk that tariffs pose to the global economy have never been more real and now for Italy the macroeconomic pressures that President Trump's tariffs bring are very concerning, with the head of the main Italian lobby saying on Wednesday that Italy risks losing around $23.6 billion in exports and 118,000 jobs if the US imposes tariffs of 10%. Reuters reports: Read more here. If investors are expecting a seasonal lift for Asian equities this summer, they may have to think again. Tariff pressures and macroeconomic concerns have started to dampen sentiment. Bloomberg News reports: Read more here. For several months, the back and forth between the US and Japan has been an ongoing concern as the two parties attempt to reach a trade deal and avoid skyrocketing tariffs. Now Trump has threatened Japan with tariffs of up to 35%. This is a worst-case scenario for Japan and has started to raise doubts over Tokyo's tactics in trade talks. "Japan should be forced to pay 30% or 35% or whatever number we determine, because we have a very big trade deficit with Japan," Trump said on Tuesday, calling the country "spoiled." Experts have warned about taking Trump's comments at face value and believe that a deal will get done. However, they have also said that now is perhaps the time for Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to take a less friendly stance when it comes to trade negotiations. 'There is some risk of a US tantrum that results in higher punitive actions by Washington this month,' said Kurt Tong, a former senior US diplomat in Asia who's now a managing partner at the Asia Group. 'If that happens, Japan may have no choice but to hit back with its own specific countermeasures.' Bloomberg News reports: Read more here. President Trump on Tuesday, amid days of renewed whiplash on the tariff front, suggested he wouldn't extend a July 9 deadline for higher tariffs to resume on trade partners. He also threatened a tariff level on goods from Japan that would be higher than those he levied on the country in April. From Bloomberg: Notably, that 30% or 35% would be a higher level than the 24% he had laid out as part of his "Liberation Day" duties. Bloomberg added that Trump "sounded more optimistic" about an agreement with India. Read more here. US manufacturing remained weak in June. New orders were low and input costs went up slightly. This shows Trump's tariffs on imports are still making it hard for businesses to plan. Reuters reports: Read more here. The European Union has hardened its stance in trade trade talks with US President Donald Trump and are insisting the US drops its tariffs on the EU immediately as part of any framework deal ahead of the July 9 deadline. Trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič has been told he must take a tougher line on his trip to Washington this week as Brussels attempts to remove or at least cut Trump's levies in the long term. The FT reports: Read more here. Bloomberg reports: Read more here. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said that tariffs are causing the central bank to take its time before cutting interest rates. Powell is speaking today about the Fed's policy stance at an ECB forum in Sintra, Portugal. When asked if the Fed would have cut interest rates by more by now if it weren't for higher tariffs, Powell stated, "I think that's right." "In effect, we went on hold when we saw the size of the tariffs," Powell continued. "Essentially, all inflation forecasts for the United States went up materially as a consequence of the tariffs." Powell noted that the US economy remains healthy overall but that he expects to see the effects of tariffs if they filter through the economic data in the coming months. In recent days, Powell has faced increased pressure from President Trump to lower interest rates, including in the form of handwritten notes. "Ignore the tariffs for a second," Powell said of the economy. "Inflation is behaving pretty much exactly as we have expected and hoped that it would. We haven't seen effects much yet from tariffs, and we didn't expect to by now." Watch Powell speak live below: Perhaps the moral of this story really is — as Amex likes to say — "Don't leave home without it." Nowhere was this more true than for CEO Robert Keeley, who when faced with an $11,000 tariff bill decided to cash in 1.83 million American Express reward points to pay it. Bloomberg News reports: Read more here. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
34 minutes ago
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‘Well-known' figures want to join Reform UK cabinet, Farage claims
A Reform UK cabinet could include people from outside Parliament, Nigel Farage has said. During an LBC phone-in on Thursday, the Reform UK leader said it was 'nonsense' that ministers 'must all be politicians in the House of Commons' and suggested following the US example where cabinet members have often never stood for election. He said: 'I really mean this, I do think that you've got to think a little bit more about running the public finances as if you're running a business.' Asked if there were any names he was considering, he declined to say, but added: 'I'm amazed by the conversations we're having already.' He said: 'Some of them are very well-known people. 'This country is in economic, social and cultural decline, we are in big trouble, and a lot of people recognise that if this is not turned around within the next decade, the place will, frankly, not be worth living in.' In the wide-ranging phone-in, he also said he wanted to be prime minister because he did not 'see anybody else with the guts to take on the really tough issues this country faces and turn it round'. Asked whether he supported same-sex marriage, which he previously opposed, he would only say it was a 'settled issue', and he described a recent Commons vote to decriminalise women who have abortions after the 24-week limit as 'disturbing'. Mr Farage also ruled out banning non-stunned meat, such as kosher and halal products, saying he did not 'like it' but there were 'more important, more urgent priorities'. He also called for US President Donald Trump to be allowed to address Parliament when he comes to the UK later this year, after he was barred from doing so on his previous state visit.
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34 minutes ago
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With Geopolitical Tensions Running Hot, Buy This Dividend Stock
Global geopolitical tensions have eased somewhat after the fragile ceasefire between Iran and Israel. While global markets breathed a sigh of relief, some defense stocks understandably fell. That said, I believe global geopolitical tensions are now a structural story, with the U.S. continuing to closely watch Russia and China. Given the expectations, I find Lockheed Martin (LMT) stock a good buy. The stock is a play on rising global defense spending, trades at reasonable valuations, and its dividend yield has risen to almost 3% after the drawdown in the stock. Let's discuss in detail. With Geopolitical Tensions Running Hot, Buy This Dividend Stock Markets move fast. Keep up by reading our FREE midday Barchart Brief newsletter for exclusive charts, analysis, and headlines. Global defense spending is expected to rise significantly over the next decade, with NATO members (with the exception of Spain) committing to invest 5% of their respective GDPs in defense over the next 10 years. While nine NATO members did not meet the 2% target that the alliance set in 2014, there could be a sense of urgency now, given the rising threat from Russia. While the collective 5% target might still be missed, we can be reasonably sure that the alliance's defense spending will be significantly higher in the next 10 years than it was in the preceding. It is still early to say how much of the higher spend will be directed to U.S. companies, but it's nonetheless an opportunity for players like Lockheed Martin. U.S. allies in the Middle East are also ramping up defense spending. Elsewhere, India, which is among the major arms importers globally, might also bump up its defense spending following the recent clashes with rival Pakistan. The country's defense spending as a percentage of GDP has fallen below 2% and it might need to increase spending as it faces threats from both China and Pakistan. Historically, the country has bought the bulk of its defense equipment from Russia (and its predecessor the Soviet Union), but has been pivoting to Western suppliers. While the country does not buy a lot of defense equipment from the U.S. yet, President Donald Trump might push it to do so to address its trade surplus. Looking stateside, while Lockheed Martin missed out on the U.S. Air Force's Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program, which was awarded to Boeing (BA), the company is a strong contender for the Golden Dome missile defense program. The company is positioning its portfolio for new-age warfare, and in February, it unveiled a system to counter unmanned aerial systems. Lockheed Martin's book-to-bill ratio was below 1 in Q1, which means it booked fewer orders than it billed during the quarter. However, the company had an order backlog worth $173 billion, which is more than two times its annual revenue. Lockheed Martin is expected to post mid-single-digit top-line growth in 2025 and 2026. Its earnings per share (EPS) is expected to fall around 4% this year, in part due to higher costs. Notably, 60% of LMT's contracts are fixed-price contracts, which means that the company cannot pass on higher costs to buyers. Its earnings are, however, expected to rise over 9% in 2026. Lockheed Martin stock trades at a forward price-earnings (P/E) of 16.8x, which looks reasonable. While there are headwinds, including from tariffs, and sentiment toward defense stocks has been subdued of late, I believe higher geopolitical tensions are here to stay, which will bolster the earnings of defense companies like Lockheed Martin. Wall Street analysts, however, have a mixed opinion on LMT, and it has 11 'Strong Buy' and 11 'Hold' ratings. One analyst rates the stock as a 'Strong Sell,' and its mean target price of $525.50 is 12.5% higher than its current price. Lockheed Martin has a dividend yield of 2.85% which is higher than other defense companies like RTX (RTX), General Dynamics (GD), and Northrop Grumman (NOC). At the same time, its current valuations are below these companies. LMT stock might fit into the portfolios of investors who want to play the rising global defense spending story with a high dividend stock. The stock's risk-return looks reasonably attractive, as while the valuations are not mouthwatering, they are good enough to make an entry into this defense stock. On the date of publication, Mohit Oberoi did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on Sign in to access your portfolio
