US President Donald Trump said he would be in favour of helping US airlines

Washington, DC: US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would be in favour of helping U.S. airlines financially when he was asked about a group of Senate Republicans backing $25 billion payroll assistance for companies financially devastated by the coronavirus pandemic.

"We don't want to lose our airlines so if they're looking at that, whether they're Republican or Democrat, I'd be certainly in favor," Trump said at a White House briefing. He also defended his suggestion of giving a speech from the White House accepting the Republican Party's presidential nomination, after lawmakers and ethicists said it was inappropriate and possibly illegal to use a nonpartisan, public site as a venue for a political address.

"Well, it is legal," Trump said when asked about his speech plans, arguing that the Hatch Act prohibiting leaders from trading on public goods for political gains does not apply to him. "If I use the White House, we save tremendous amounts of money for the government in terms of security, traveling."