Trump says he has a TikTok buyer. Here are the players who have been vying to buy the app
CNN — After months of speculation and multiple bids from would-be American buyers, TikTok may finally be getting a new owner.
President Donald Trump teased over the weekend that there is a buyer for TikTok, whom he will announce in two weeks, which could secure the app's long-term future in the United States.
'We have a buyer for TikTok, by the way. I think I'll need probably China approval, and I think President Xi will probably do it,' President Donald Trump said on Fox News' 'Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo.' He added: 'It's a group of very wealthy people.'
TikTok's parent company ByteDance is on the clock to spin off the popular short-form video app's US operations by September 17 or face a ban in the United States. Trump has repeatedly delayed enforcement of the TikTok sale-or-ban law signed by then-President Joe Biden last year — which was originally set to go into effect in January — in hopes of making a deal for an American owner to acquire the app.
The app is used by about 170 million Americans to find news, entertainment, community and, in some cases, to make a living.
It remains unclear whether the Chinese government would bless the sale of TikTok by its China-based owner.
In April, a deal that would have transferred majority control of TikTok's US operations to American ownership was nearly finalized. But it fell apart after Trump announced additional tariffs on China, forcing the White House to announce another 75-day delay to keep the app operational in the United States. Trump extended the deadline again by 90 days earlier this month.
'Discussions with China regarding the sale of TikTok have been ongoing at the highest level, and they will continue,' White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a briefing Monday. 'As you know, we have another 90-day extension, and it's just to continue to work out this deal and make sure that TikTok stays on for the American people — that's the president's main goal in this, while protecting their privacy and their security.'
ByteDance and TikTok did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Monday.
Here's what we know about who could buy TikTok.
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