Washington - With Wall Street continuing in a tailspin, US President George W Bush Wednesday said he realized the country was in a grim financial crisis but was confident "in the long run, this economy will come back."

Bush met in the morning with his financial advisors, then flew to Grand Rapids, Michigan, one of the hard-hit manufacturing areas of the country and a major Democratic stronghold for the November 4 presidential elections. He met with small-town business owners and bankers in Michigan.

"I'm realistic about how tough the situation is and optimistic that we're gonna' come through it," Bush said in broadcast remarks from Michigan.

Bush defended Tuesday's move to buy up 250 billion dollars in bank shares as "necessary" to "help us through this financial crisis."

But he expressed his overall opposition to the government's owning businesses, which he did not think was "good for the country." He hoped that in some cases, when the shares are sold back to the companies, that the government could "make a little money" off the deal. (dpa)