WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Trump administration is weighing possible stakes in defense companies and others it does business with, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Tuesday in defending President Donald Trump’s push for a greater federal government role in American businesses.

“They’re thinking about it,” Lutnick told CNBC, citing Pentagon leaders, when asked if the administration was considering taking pieces of contractors such as Lockheed Martin Corp, Boeing Co or Palantir Technologies Inc . “There’s a lot of talking that needs to be had about how do we finance our munitions acquisitions.”

“There’s a monstrous discussion about defense. Lockheed Martin makes 97% of their revenue from the U.S. government. They are basically an arm of the U.S. government,” he added.

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