Trump says he’s still considering a taxpayer-funded deal to bail out Spirit Airlines

The tail of a Spirit Airlines Airbus A320 is shown as the plane prepares to take off from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said he’s still weighing a taxpayer-funded takeover of Spirit Airlines.

The president didn’t offer details about the proposal but told reporters as he prepared to leave the White House for a trip to Florida that he would have an announcement on the matter Friday or Saturday.

“We’re looking at it. If we could do it, we’ll do it. But only if it’s a good deal,” Trump said.

Trump said he would like to save jobs at the airline and his administration gave Spirit “a final proposal.”

• Latest updates on company news here

“We’re looking at Spirit and if we can help them, we will. But we have to come first,” he said.

He likened it to the deal his administration struck to make the U.S. government into a major stockholder of semiconductor manufacturer Intel, but said it was “a different kind of a thing.”

Last week, Trump floated the idea of a taxpayer-funded takeover of Spirit and suggested the U.S. government could later resell the airline for a profit once oil prices pushed up by the Iran war drop.

A lawyer for Spirit, meanwhile, told a U.S. Bankruptcy Court a week ago that the airline was in advanced talks with the government on a financing deal that would allow it to exit Chapter 11 protection.

Supporters of the airline’s rescue included labor groups representing Spirit’s pilots and flight attendants, who argued that allowing the low-cost carrier to collapse would hurt workers and push fares higher.

Critics, including both Republican and Democratic lawmakers, have raised concerns about the use of taxpayer dollars and questioned whether federal support would amount to a bailout of a company unlikely to recover.

• Latest updates on international news here

Spirit has struggled with losses for years. The airline filed for bankruptcy protection in November 2024 and again in August 2025.

With the Iran war driving up jet fuel costs for all airlines, creditors last month expressed doubts about Spirit’s ability to keep operating, raising the possibility that the airline recognized for its bright yellow planes would be forced to sell its assets and stop flying.

___

Michelle Price And Rio Yamat, The Associated Press. Yamat reported from Las Vegas.