Trump Says U.S. Bailouts May Require Equity Stakes, Buyback Bans

President Donald Trump said he’d support the U.S. taking an equity stake in companies that receive coronavirus-related aid from taxpayers and prohibiting firms from increasing executive bonuses and stock buybacks.

“We don’t want that,” Trump said Thursday at a White House news conference. “Some companies, as you know, did stock buybacks. It’s very hard to tell them not to but I would tell them not to.”

He answered “I do, I really do” when asked whether he supports the U.S. taking equity stakes in companies that receive assistance, an idea that his top economic adviser Larry Kudlow publicly suggested on ...