Trump says 'very wealthy' group to buy TikTok
President Donald Trump said Sunday a group of buyers had been found for TikTok, which faces a looming ban in the United States due to its China ties, adding he could name the purchasers in two weeks.
"We have a buyer for TikTok, by the way," Trump said in an interview on Fox's Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo.
"Very wealthy people. It's a group of wealthy people," the president said, without revealing more except to say he would make their identities known "in about two weeks."
The president also said he would likely need "China approval" for the sale, "and I think President Xi (Jinping) will probably do it."
TikTok is owned by China-based internet company ByteDance.
A federal law requiring TikTok's sale or ban on national security grounds was due to take effect the day before Trump's inauguration on January 20. But the Republican, whose 2024 election campaign relied heavily on social media and who has said he is fond of TikTok, put the ban on pause.
In mid-June Trump extended a deadline for the popular video-sharing app by another 90 days to find a non-Chinese buyer or be banned in the United States.
Tech experts quickly described the TikTok kerfuffle as a symbol of the heated US-China tech rivalry.
While Trump had long supported a ban or divestment, he reversed his position and vowed to defend the platform -- which boasts almost two billion global users -- after coming to believe it helped him win young voters' support in the November election.
"I have a little warm spot in my heart for TikTok," Trump told NBC News in early May. "If it needs an extension, I would be willing to give it an extension."
Now after two extensions pushed the deadline to June 19, Trump has extended it for a third time.
He said in May that a group of purchasers was ready to pay ByteDance "a lot of money" for TikTok's US operations.
The previous month he said China would have agreed to a deal on the sale of TikTok if it were not for a dispute over Trump's tariffs on Beijing.
ByteDance has confirmed talks with the US government, saying key matters needed to be resolved and that any deal would be "subject to approval under Chinese law."
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West Australian
an hour ago
- West Australian
EDITORIAL: Penny Wong the wrong person to win American's favour
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The Advertiser
an hour ago
- The Advertiser
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Sydney Morning Herald
3 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Trump-Albanese meeting could happen in India
Anthony Albanese has signalled he could use a gathering of world leaders in India to meet Donald Trump as he justifies Australia's defence spending as more transparent than the measures used by other countries. Albanese is the only leader of the Quad grouping – India, the US, Japan and Australia – not to have met Trump in person and faces pressure from the White House to follow NATO and lift defence spending to at least 3.5 per cent of the nation's gross domestic product. Albanese has spoken with Trump on three occasions and was due to meet the president at the recent G7 meeting in Canada, but Trump cancelled his meetings that day and returned to Washington early to deal with events in the Middle East. Albanese told the ABC's Afternoon Briefing that he was ready to meet Trump 'when a suitable time can be organised' and noted the Quad meeting was in coming months. 'So these things are being organised, and I look forward to having a meeting and continuing the constructive dialogue that I've had with President Trump up to now,' he said. Loading The Quad has the stated goal of defending a free and open Indo-Pacific, but is widely seen as a forum for containing China. The date for the 2025 Quad leaders meeting has not yet been set, but the four nations' foreign ministers are meeting in Washington and, according to a report in Times of India earlier this month, that get-together is likely to set a date for the leaders' meeting. Albanese also plans to attend the UN leader's week in September and deliver his first address to that forum, and a possible meeting in the White House afterwards could occur after that event.
