Donald Trump teases new TikTok buyers, says he'll reveal them in two weeks, and claims they're 'very wealthy people'
While TikTok has become a social media juggernaut and a formidable competitor to established stalwarts such as Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube and Instagram, the app has been controversial with the United States political establishment thanks to ByteDance's ties to China. In his first term, President Trump had already begun his pressure campaign to push ByteDance to divest, which seems to be coming to fruition now.
Donald Trump says new buyer will be revealed in two weeks
Trump was coy about the exact details on who the TikTok buyer will be, stating that he still needed to negotiate with China, specifically Xi Jinping. He did, however, state that the new buyer was a group of 'very wealthy people'. Speculation about TikTok's ultimate fate has been rampant since the social media service was banned during the closing days of President Joe Biden's administration.
Since his inauguration, Donald Trump has postponed app's shutdown, something he was explicitly thanked for within TikTok itself. Should President Trump follow through on his promise to reveal the identity of the new buyer in the next two weeks, the next chapter in TikTok's history is bound to generate significant buzz.
TikTok became a social media sensation in the COVID era
TikTok was borne out of a merger between Douyin, ByteDance's original social media app created for Chinese markets, and Music.ly, which was an app startup headquartered in Shangai that focused on karaoke-themed short videos.
TikTok became a global sensation in the COVID era, with its proliferation of short, viral clips that turned it into a formidable competitor for the established social media landscape. ByteDance's ties to China, however, have made TikTok a politically contentious app, with its complicated situation in the United States, and outright ban in India.
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