WASHINGTON, April 21 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald

Trump on Tuesday that while he does not mind mergers, he does

not like a potential tie-up between United Airlines and

American Airlines ( AAL ).

"I don't mind mergers," Trump said, adding he would "love

somebody to buy" Spirit Airlines, Trump said in a CNBC

interview. Spirit is currently in bankruptcy.

"But with American it's doing fine, and United is doing very

well. I know the United people, they're doing very well. I don't

like having them merge," he said.

United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby had pitched the ​potential for

merging with American Airlines ( AAL ) in a meeting with Trump in late

February, sources said last week. American said on Friday it is

not interested in a merger with United.

A combination of two of the ‌largest U.S. network carriers

would mark the biggest consolidation in more than a decade,

further tightening a domestic market already dominated by four

similarly sized players. Including international flights, United

and American were already the world's ​two largest airlines by

available capacity in 2025, according to OAG data.

Spirit Airlines is a different story. The Biden

administration went to court to block a proposed merger between

Spirit and JetBlue in 2024, saying the combination would harm

competition and raise fares. The move has since come under fire

from Republicans as Spirit has struggled financially.

"It's 14,000 jobs, and maybe the federal government should

help that one out," Trump said on Tuesday.