Trump 'startles' industrialists with push for a stake in big American businesses: report

Trump's push to have his administration take a bigger stake in major American businesses is beginning to scare industrialists and executives, according to a new report.

"Some executives are so worried Trump will ask for a stake in their company that they have prepared for Oval Office meetings by rehearsing what they would say to fend off the president's advances," the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday based on information from the lobbyists involved in those preparations.

According to the WSJ, Trump's reach for large stakes in the biggest American businesses "startles many large U.S. companies that fear an expansion of government power in their industries."

The WSJ pointed towards recent "progressive-style" efforts by the White House to "cap credit-card rates to assertive deals grabbing government shares in private companies." Top Trump aides also brought up the idea of taking a stake in a merger between United and American Airlines that ultimately fell through, according to the WSJ.

The Trump administration also asked for a "significant stake" in the now-defunct Spirit Airlines before it went out of business, the WSJ highlighted.

"When the company offered 80 percent in exchange for the government bailout, Trump suggested 90 percent," the WSJ reported.

Meanwhile, Trump is moving forward with plans to acquire a stake in "at least 10 companies, including a 10 percent equity stake in Intel," the U.S. tech maker, "and a 'golden share' of U.S. Steel, which grants the government power to influence company decisions."

The Trump administration has already secured "significant shares of critical minerals" that are "crucial for industries and national defence contractors," per the WSJ.

Lobbyists who talked to the WSJ said that they're telling their clients who want to meet with Trump or Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick that they should be prepared for questions like "Would they be willing to give the administration something?"

"We're seeing the government get more involved in different aspects of the economy, which is a pivot off the more traditional Republican approach of the last century," Kelly Ann Shaw, Trump's former deputy assistant for international economic affairs, told the WSJ.