Why Trump may hand taxpayers a majority stake in a failing airline: ‘Everything is a deal’

In today’s CEO Daily: Diane Brady on why the government wants to bail out Spirit.

The big leadership story: More CEO churn

The markets: Mostly down as oil prices inch higher

Plus: All the news and watercooler chat from Fortune.

Good morning. Who wants to own an airline? Congratulations, U.S. taxpayer, it looks like you’re about to get a majority stake in Spirit Airlines, a struggling carrier on the precipice of collapse. With the Trump administration nearing a rescue package that could give Spirit up to $500 million in return for warrants that grant the government an equity stake, I reached out to a top airline executive who told me they “have a fiduciary duty to say nothing” before saying “we’re dealing with fuel prices, too.”  

Washington has rescued airlines before, much like it rescued big automakers, banks, insurers and others deemed too big or important to fail. And President Donald Trump has demonstrated a fondness for using the White House as a perch for doing business deals, whether it’s owning 10% of Intel or securing access to Venezuela’s oil. But it’s unusual for the government to take a stake in a failing business with just over 3% market share. What’s going on here?

“Money, power and leverage.” That’s how Tad DeHaven, a policy analyst at the Cato Institute, sums up the government’s motivation in what he calls the “wackiest year of my career.” Trump tried to create his own sovereign wealth fund early on, only to realize he needed Congress and a budget surplus to pull that off. Instead, he’s doing trade deals like one with Japan that requires Tokyo to invest $550 billion in projects “selected and managed” by the U.S. government and........

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