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Arabian Post
14 minutes ago
- Arabian Post
Trump Confirms 'Very Wealthy' Buyers Poised to Acquire TikTok
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai U.S. former President Donald Trump has announced that a group of 'very wealthy people' is set to acquire TikTok's U.S. operations, with identities expected to be disclosed in approximately two weeks. He stated that the sale would likely require approval from China's President Xi Jinping, whom he anticipates will greenlight the transaction. This development follows an extension of the deadline — now set for mid‑September — under a 2024 law mandating that ByteDance divest its U.S. TikTok assets or face a ban. Trump granted this third 90‑day reprieve on 19 June, citing negotiations and U.S. investors' desire to maintain the app while safeguarding American user data. ADVERTISEMENT The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, passed in April 2024, requires a 'qualified divestiture' or risk removal from U.S. app stores. ByteDance challenged it in court, but the Supreme Court upheld its constitutionality in January 2025. TikTok was removed temporarily before Trump's administration issued executive orders delaying its enforcement. Trump reversed his earlier stance — once favouring a complete ban — after gaining a large TikTok following during his 2024 campaign. He credited the platform with boosting his appeal among younger voters. A consortium led by Oracle, with interest from firms such as Blackstone, Amazon and Walmart, reportedly lost momentum this spring when China refused to approve the proposed transaction. The impasse was linked to Trump's threat of tariffs, used as negotiating leverage. Several potential bidders have emerged in the course of discussions. Notably, real‑estate magnate Frank McCourt has confirmed he remains ready to support a $20 billion bid through his group, Project Liberty. Other names associated with interest include Kevin O'Leary, former Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick, YouTuber Jimmy Donaldson — known as MrBeast — and former Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin. Negotiations have involved U.S. Vice‑President J.D. Vance's office and TikTok, which has pledged to continue working with U.S. officials and expressed gratitude for the extensions. ByteDance has stated that any deal would require compliance with both U.S. and Chinese legal frameworks. As the mid‑September Reuters‑mandated deadline approaches, Trump's timeline for announcing the buyer coincides with intensifying public and legal scrutiny. Critics, including Senator Mark Warner, argue that repeated extensions exceed presidential authority and compromise U.S. national security. Trade expert Joel Thayer noted that even if the app is sold without its proprietary algorithm, the core TikTok experience could remain affordable — possibly undervalued compared to its full potential. Approval from China remains the primary hurdle. Trump said securing Xi Jinping's consent will be vital to finalising the transaction. Analysts suggest that any concessions — including a rollback of U.S. tariffs — may be part of a broader trade‑off tied to China's agreement. TikTok continues to operate in the U.S. ahead of the deadline, with its managers asserting commitment to user safety and asserting they have no intention of relinquishing presence in the market.
Zawya
2 hours ago
- Zawya
Even as markets rally, Trump's policymaking causes market angst
As Wall Street puts April's tariff shakeout in the rearview mirror and indexes set record highs, investors remain wary of U.S. President Donald Trump's rapid-fire, sometimes chaotic policymaking process and see the rally as fragile. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite index advanced past their previous highs into uncharted territory on Friday. Yet traders and investors remain wary of what may lie ahead. Trump's April 2 reciprocal tariffs on major trading partners roiled global financial markets and put the S&P 500 on the threshold of a bear market designation when it ended down 19% from its February 19 record-high close. This week's leg up came after a U.S.-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Iran brought an end to a 12-day air battle that had sparked a jump in crude prices and raised worries of higher inflation. But a relief rally started after Trump responded to the initial tariff panic that gripped financial markets by backing away from his most draconian plans. JP Morgan Chase, in the midyear outlook published on Wednesday by its global research team, said the environment was characterized by "extreme policy uncertainty." "Nobody wants to end a week with a risk-on tilt to their portfolios," said Art Hogan, market strategist at B. Riley Wealth. "Everyone is aware that just as the market feels more certain and confident, a single wildcard policy announcement could change everything," even if it does not ignite a firestorm of the kind seen in April. Part of this wariness from institutional investors may be due to the magnitude of the 6% S&P 500 rally that followed Trump's re-election last November and culminated in the last new high posted by the index in February, said Joseph Quinlan, market strategist at Bank of America. "We were out ahead of our skis," Quinlan said. A focus on deregulation, tax cuts and corporate deals brought out the "animal spirits," he said. Then came the tariff battles. Quinlan remains upbeat on the outlook for U.S. stocks and optimistic that a new global trade system could lead to U.S. companies opening new markets and posting higher revenues and profits. But he said he is still cautious. "There will still be spikes of volatility around policy unknowns." Overall, measures of market volatility are now well below where they stood at the height of the tariff turmoil in April, with the CBOE VIX index now at 16.3, down from a 52.3 peak on April 8. UNSTABLE MARKETS "Our clients seem to have become somewhat desensitized to the headlines, but it's still an unhealthy market, with everyone aware that trading could happen based on the whims behind a bunch of" social media posts, said Jeff O'Connor, head of market structure, Americas, at Liquidnet, an institutional trading platform. Trading in the options market shows little sign of the kind of euphoria that characterized stock market rallies of the recent past. "On the institutional front, we do see a lot of hesitation in chasing the market rally," Stefano Pascale, head of U.S. equity derivatives research at Barclays, said. Unlike past episodes of sharp market selloffs, institutional investors have largely stayed away from employing bullish call options to chase the market higher, Pascale said, referring to plain options that confer the right to buy at a specified future price and date. Bid/ask spreads on many stocks are well above levels O'Connor witnessed in late 2024, while market depth - a measure of the size and number of potential orders - remains at the lowest levels he can recall in the last 20 years. "The best way to describe the markets in the last couple of months, even as they have recovered, is to say they are unstable," said Liz Ann Sonders, market strategist at Charles Schwab. She said she is concerned that the market may be reaching "another point of complacency" akin to that seen in March. "There's a possibility that we'll be primed for another downside move," Sonders addded. Mark Spindel, chief investment officer at Potomac River Capital in Washington, said he came up with the term "Snapchat presidency" to describe the whiplash effect on markets of the president's constantly changing policies on markets. "He feels more like a day trader than a long-term institutional investor," Spindel said, alluding to Trump's policy flip-flops. "One minute he's not going to negotiate, and the next he negotiates." To be sure, traders seem to view those rapid shifts in course as a positive in the current rally, signaling Trump's willingness to heed market signals. "For now, at least, stocks are willing to overlook the risks that go along with this style and lack of consistent policies, and give the administration a break as being 'market friendly'," said Steve Sosnick, market strategist at Interactive Brokers. (Reporting by Suzanne McGee in Providence, Rhode Island; Additional reporting by Saqib Ahmed in New York; Editing by Alden Bentley and Matthew Lewis)
The National
3 hours ago
- The National
AI and taxes: How Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' could reshape the global tech landscape
Although President Donald Trump 's much touted "big, beautiful bill" largely revolves around tax cuts – particularly for the wealthiest Americans – it could also shape artificial intelligence developments for decades to come. Tucked into the legislation that has already passed the House of Representatives but still needs approval from the Senate is a provision that would limit the ability of all 50 US states to enact laws that regulate AI, at least temporarily. Within the current form of the tax bill endorsed by Mr Trump, states would be unable to obtain federal funding for various projects provided in the legislation of they passed any laws limiting AI in the next 10 years. It's not unusual for large tax and spending bills to include parts that might seem unrelated to the central intent of the legislation, but the AI provision has sparked backlash from both sides of the aisle. 'Make no mistake, we can have an AI revolution while also protecting the civil rights and liberties of everyday Americans," said Massachusetts Democratic Senator Edward Markey several weeks ago, blasting the provision that limits the rights of states to regulate AI. Far-right Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has also spoken against the inclusion of AI stipulations in the proposed tax bill, saying that it unnecessarily burdens rural and conservative leaning parts of the country by potentially penalising them for enacting AI laws. She pointed out in a post on X that 40 state attorneys general had written a letter to Congress against the proposal. "It's not too late for the Senate to take it out," she added. According to the Cato Institute, as of 2024, at least 40 states had considered and at least 31 have passed various forms of laws to put guardrails on AI. Yet during his 2024 campaign for the presidency, Mr Trump came out swinging against what he saw as onerous AI regulations. "We will repeal Joe Biden's dangerous Executive Order that hinders AI Innovation, and imposes Radical Leftwing ideas on the development of this technology," the official 2024 Republican National Convention platform, largely composed by Trump campaign staffers, read. "In its place, Republicans support AI Development rooted in free speech and human flourishing." The proposal has likely been met with applause from various US technology majors as they pump billions into AI development to try to dominate what has already become a lucrative market. Yet public officials, labour groups and even some proponents of the technology have expressed concern over the potential for AI to cause unemployment, create user data security problems and prompt an energy crunch. Those anxieties have led to regulations passed at a local level to try to blunt any inadvertent impacts of AI. Many in Silicon Valley, however, remain concerned that if regulations become too burdensome, the US could lose its competitive advantage in the AI space to China and other countries deemed adversarial. To some extent, these concerns about regulation have already been acted on by the Trump White House as it seeks to ease AI chip export policies enacted by the Biden administration. If Mr Trump's "big, beautiful bill" passes with the current AI stipulations in place, proponents say it will guarantee US dominance in the AI sector and create a cascade effect where US technology is used for the technology's implementation around the world, potentially creating more allies and wealth. "This isn't federal overreach," said Neil Chilson, former chief technologist for the Federal Trade Commission during the first Trump administration and current head of AI policy at the Abundance Institute, a non-profit organisation that supports emerging technologies. "It is a pragmatic, limited measure to slow the patchwork quilt of fifty state AI laws from becoming a wet blanket on federal legislation." However not all tech entrepreneurs are on board with limiting local and state ability to enact AI regulations. "A 10-year moratorium is far too blunt an instrument," wrote Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei in an opinion piece for the New York Times. "Without a clear plan for a federal response, a moratorium would give us the worst of both worlds – no ability for states to act, and no national policy as a backstop." He added that local legislation often seeks to identify the dangers of AI and help fix it, therefore improving it in the long run. Mr Amodei, who is also a proponent of the technology export controls enacted by the Biden White House, recently warned that the fast-development of AI could "wipe out half of all entry-level white-collar jobs". While Mr Amodei is in the minority among tech entrepreneurs, he is finding allies among media activism organisations like Common Sense, which describes itself as being "dedicated to improving the lives of kids and families by providing the trustworthy information". The group said that more than 60,000 people have signed a petition to protect states' rights to pass AI laws. "Senators should pay careful attention to the rising discontent over the proposed 10-year ban on AI safety laws and should strip it from the budget bill," said James Steyer, chief executive of Common Sense. "Banning state AI safety laws is not a budget matter and has no place in a budget bill." He described the 10-year-ban as "irresponsible and indefensible", in terms of how it leaves consumers and children "vulnerable to AI threats". The "big, beautiful bill" is still awaiting a vote in the Senate, and Republican leaders have said they are aiming to have it on the President's desk by Independence Day on July 4.
