President Donald Trump has doubled down on the idea of a taxpayer-funded takeover of Spirit Airlines rather than a traditional bailout, an approach critics previously described as highly problematic.

President Donald Trump said Thursday that he was weighing a taxpayer-funded takeover of Spirit Airlines with the intent of reselling the struggling budget carrier after oil prices drop.

But the recent fuel hikes resulting from the U.S./Israel conflict with Iran and the on-again, off-again closing of the Strait of Hormuz, which affects 20% of the world's oil and natural gas, have affe...