One of Donald Trump’s most reliable Republican allies has come out swinging at the president’s “terrible” plan to bail out a failing airline.
Trump has indicated a willingness to come to the aid of Spirit Airlines, which has filed for bankruptcy protection twice in less than a year, in November 2024 and August 2025. “It’s 14,000 jobs, and maybe the federal government should help that one out,” Trump told CNBC in an interview on Tuesday.
But top MAGA figures, none more so than Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, hate the plan, which would reportedly see the government lend the business up to $500 million before taking a 90-percent stake in it.
“This is an absolutely terrible idea,” Cruz, who is also the Republican chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, said on social media. He added that “the government doesn’t know a damn thing about running a failed budget airline.”
Trump’s Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy was also outspoken against the deal. “What we don’t want to do is put good money after bad, and there’s been a lot of money thrown at Spirit, and they haven’t found their way into profitability. And so would we just forestall the inevitable and then own that?” Duffy told Reuters on Tuesday. “We can’t make dumb investments.”
He added that it appears no one wants to buy Spirit. “What would someone buy?” Duffy asked. “If no one else wants to buy them, why would we buy them?”
Republican Sen. Tom Cotton made the same point in a more measured way: “If Spirit’s creditors or other potential investors don’t think they can run it profitably coming out of its second bankruptcy in under two years, I doubt the U.S. Government can either. Not the best use of taxpayer dollars.”
But the messaging from the White House indicates a willingness for the deal. “This is something the Commerce Department and the president are tracking,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday. “The aviation industry is very important to this president and this White House.”
The Journal also reported that Duffy and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick each tried to sway the president’s thinking on the matter during closed-door meetings at the White House.
“People familiar with the matter” told the Rupert Murdoch-controlled title that Lutnick painted the bailout as a political win ahead of the midterm elections in November.
Duffy, as his public comments suggest, was on the other side of the fence. He reportedly suggested that the bailout could be viewed as a waste of taxpayer money.
Insiders said that Duffy, who has been in his post since January 2025 and presided over a tumultuous time for American aviation, also suggested that bailing out a failing company might prove unpopular with voters.
Duffy reportedly made his points without definitively saying Trump should not go ahead with the plan, which the president sees as a job-saver.
The White House has been contacted for comment.
