Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Tuesday the Trump administration is “thinking about” taking stakes in defense contractors, potentially replicating its divisive move to purchase part of chip maker Intel.

“Why shouldn't the U.S. government say, ‘You know what? We use Palantir services, we would like a piece of Palantir. We use Boeing services, we would like a piece of Boeing,’” CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin asked Lutnick on "Squawk Box.”

“There are a lot of businesses that do business with the U.S. government, that benefit by doing business with the U.S. government. Where, again, I guess the question is, where's the line?” Sorkin continued.

“Oh, there's a monstrous discussion about defense," Lutnick replied. "I mean, Lockheed Martin makes 97 percent of their revenue from the U.S. gover

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