DETROIT — Four of President Barack Obama’s top advisers will converge on Detroit on Friday to meet privately with state and local leaders about ways the federal government can help the bankrupt city short of a bailout.

The White House said Thursday that top economic adviser Gene Sperling will join U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan in the closed meeting.

“There is not going to be a bailout,” Democratic U.S. Sen. Carl Levin said Wednesday. “We have enough problems with the federal deficit. We need to be creative and look at existing programs. There are still some funds there.”

The gathering follows a series of meetings with the White House to plot ways to pull Detroit from a fiscal pit that this summer made it the largest U.S. city to file for bankruptcy protection.

Some of the earlier meetings focused on federal grants and programs that could patch holes in existing services due to Detroit’s cash crunch, but the city has had a poor record in making sure grant money is used properly and even spent at all.

Only historic deals with bond holders, insurance companies and other creditors — or a huge infusion of cash — will wipe out Detroit’s $18 billion or more in debt.

Grants only can pay for things the city otherwise couldn’t afford. Several businesses even pitched in $8 million earlier this year to help pay for a new fleet of emergency vehicles, including 23 EMS units and 100 police cars, to boost public safety and reduce response times.