Trump's coronavirus bailouts could extend to auto industry

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Thursday that his administration's plans to provide economic assistance to U.S. businesses hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic will extend to the auto industry "at least a little bit."

According to Bloomberg, Trump told state governors on a call Thursday that his administration is "watching the auto industry very much.”

“We’re going to be helping them out at least a little bit, and they’ve sort of requested some help, and it wasn’t their fault what happened. So we’ll be taking care of the auto industry,” he said.

Trump opened the door to a radical shift in the U.S. government's relationship to private industry as the coronavirus outbreak upends the nation's economy, saying he would back the government taking stakes in certain companies.

Asked if he supported the federal government moving to take an equity stake in some companies, Trump said: "I do. I really do."

Trump, speaking at a news conference at the White House, added: "We will be helping the airline industry. We will be helping the cruise ship industry. We probably will be helping the hotel industry."

The White House did not immediately respond when asked if purchasing shares in battered companies was really under consideration. The U.S. government rarely invests in public companies except in the case of bailouts to save ailing firms and jobs.

The COVID-19 disease caused by the novel coronavirus, which originated in China late last year, has sickened more than 11,000 people in the United States and killed more than 180, upending American life as it shutters schools, restaurants and businesses across the country.