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Business/Financial

Trump Directive Halts Dividends, Stock Repurchases By “Major Defense Contractors”

By Cal Biesecker

Thursday, January 8th, 2026

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Trump Directive Halts Dividends, Stock Repurchases By “Major Defense Contractors”

President Donald Trump's official White House portrait. Photo: White House

As expected, President Donald Trump on Wednesday evening issued an executive order that would stop “major defense contractors” from paying shareholder dividends and repurchasing their stock instead of investing in speeding production and expanding manufacturing capacity. Trump telegraphed the directive just prior to Christmas and again on Wednesday in a social media post where he said defense executive’s pay should be capped at $5 million unless their companies invest in modern facilities (Defense Daily, Dec. 22, 2025, Jan. 6 and…

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