Even before America was drawn into World War II, William Knudsen left his job as president of General Motors to serve the nation for just $1 per year in directing America’s mobilization for the war that would soon come. Pictured: Knudsen (left) and President Franklin D. Roosevelt. (Photos by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

S.O.S. — What President Trump Needs is a William Knudsen

In his efforts to put America’s defense companies on a “war footing,” U.S. President Donald J. Trump is calling out those firms whose executives earn extraordinary salaries while providing their shareholders with financial rewards rather than investing serious dollars into quickly boosting production of missiles and aircraft.

Even before America was drawn into World War II, William Knudsen left his job as president of General Motors to serve the nation for just $1 per year in directing America’s mobilization for the war that would soon come. Recognizing his management skills and patriotism, President Franklin D. Roosevelt would appoint him to lead the Office of Production Management. By 1942, Knudsen went even further, accepting the rank of lieutenant general in the U.S. Army to further coordinate aircraft production, tanks, and other vital military equipment.

Knudsen was not alone. There were a number of “dollar-a-year men” coming from the private sector who understood that our nation was in mortal danger and that their expertise would allow our industrial might to be fully enlisted in the fight.

A frustrated Trump is discovering that today’s generation of defense executives are more concerned about their stock price than their company’s ability to confront a hostile world intent on doing us harm. Notwithstanding his executive order meant to force national defense priorities on corporate boardrooms, there are still roadblocks and delays in confronting the threat.

Consider the enormous defense commitment by China to overtaking the U.S. as the world’s leading superpower. Over the past 25 years, the Chinese Communist Party’s defense spending has risen almost sevenfold: from $43 billion in 2000 to $310.8 billion in 2025. It is safe to assume there is not a single Chinese defense company that is not working “flat out” to fill orders for a new generation of jets, tanks, submarines, surface vessels, satellites and hypersonic missiles to project military dominance from the direction of Beijing.

I would urge Trump to send each American defense industry CEO a simple chart that reveals just how much their Chinese opponents are out-producing, out-investing, and out-working their companies. And I would send that document inside a book that recounts the efforts of Knudsen, who understood the “bottom line” was about the survival and ultimate victory of America.

Lawrence Kadish serves on the Board of Governors of Gatestone Institute.