Trump says ‘very wealthy' group to buy TikTok
WASHINGTON: 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.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Free Malaysia Today
20 minutes ago
- Free Malaysia Today
Dollar feeble as Trump's tax bill and tariffs weigh
The US dollar index. which measures the US currency against six others, slipped to 96.688, its lowest since February 2022. SINGAPORE : The US dollar languished at its weakest against the euro since September 2021 today, as President Donald Trump's spending bill stoked fiscal worries and uncertainty around trade deals continued to weigh on sentiment. Investors have also started wagering on a quicker pace of monetary policy easing by the Federal Reserve (Fed) this year, ahead of a slew of US economic data this week, headlined by Thursday's nonfarm payrolls report. That spurred dollar-selling, leaving the euro perched at a near four-year high of US$1.179. The single currency surged 13.8% in the January-June period, its strongest-ever first-half performance, LSEG data showed. Sterling was steady at US$1.3737, not far from the three-and-a-half-year high it touched last week, while the Japanese yen firmed to ¥143.68 per dollar. The yen has gained 9% in the first half of the year, its strongest performance since 2016. The dollar index. which measures the US currency against six others, slipped to 96.688, its lowest since February 2022. Investors are grappling with uncertainty over the US Senate's efforts to pass Trump's tax-cut and spending bill, which faces internal party divisions over its projected US$3.3 trillion addition to the national debt. The fiscal concerns have dampened sentiment and prompted some investors to diversify. The world's reserve currency is down more than 10%, its biggest first-half dive since the era of free-floating currencies began in the early 1970s. 'In 2025, the US exceptionalism narrative has been called into question. 'Treasury auction demand has been under pressure in recent months, and foreign investor appetite has reduced,' said Nathan Hamilton, investment analyst for fixed income at Aberdeen Investments. 'Bear steepening of the Treasury yield curve, coupled with US dollar weakness, suggests financial markets are less willing to look through the relative credit risk metrics of the US on the back of its status as the world's reserve currency,' Hamilton said. Meanwhile, Trump has continued hammering the Fed to ease monetary policy, sending Fed chair Jerome Powell a list of central bank interest rates around the world adorned with handwritten commentary saying the US rate should be between Japan's 0.5% and Denmark's 1.75%. Trump's constant tirade against the Fed and Powell has fuelled investor worries about the central bank's independence and its credibility. Trump cannot fire Powell over a policy dispute, but last week urged him to resign. Investor focus will be on comments from Powell, who joins several other central bank chiefs at the European Central Bank forum in Sintra, Portugal, today. Traders are now pricing in 67 basis points of easing from the Fed this year. 'There are many reasons not to like the US dollar. Some are structural, like the erratic trade policies and fiscal risks,' said Moh Siong Sim, a currency strategist at Bank of Singapore. 'They have earlier caused the US dollar to weaken despite its relative yield advantage. But the risk of a more dovish Fed eroding US dollar's yield advantage is the latest source of US dollar weakness,' Moh said. Thursday's nonfarm payrolls is expected to show 110,000 new jobs in June, down from 139,000 in May, according to a Reuters poll of economists. The unemployment rate was expected to have crept higher to 4.3%, from 4.2% last month. With the July 9 deadline for Trump's tariffs fast approaching investors are also keeping an eye on trade deals between the US and its partners although there have not been many agreements so far. Trump expressed frustration with US-Japan trade negotiations as treasury secretary Scott Bessent warned that countries could be notified of sharply higher tariffs despite good-faith negotiations.
Free Malaysia Today
34 minutes ago
- Free Malaysia Today
Trump threatens tariffs on Japan over rice exports
Japan ranked as the second-largest export market by volume for American milled rice, according to a US rice trade group. (AFP pic) WASHINGTON : US President Donald Trump threatened Monday to send Tokyo a letter with a new tariff rate, days before a deadline where higher levies will restart for dozens of trading partners including Japan. Trump's comments on social media – over what he called Japan's reluctance to accept US rice exports – came after his top economic advisor separately signalled plans to finalise deals with countries in the coming days. 'I have great respect for Japan, they won't take our RICE, and yet they have a massive rice shortage,' Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. 'In other words, we'll just be sending them a letter, and we love having them as a Trading Partner for many years to come,' he added. Earlier this month, Trump said he would inform other countries of unilateral US tariff rates by sending letters to tell them 'what the deal is.' A trade association for the US rice industry said on its website that Japan is the United States' second biggest milled rice export market in volume. While Trump imposed a sweeping 10% tariff on imports from most trading partners in April, he unveiled – then paused – higher rates on dozens of economies to allow room for negotiations. This pause expires July 9, meaning the elevated rates are due to kick in next week if countries fail to reach agreements with Washington to avert them. To date, only two pacts have been announced. One was a broad framework with the UK and the other, a deal to temporarily lower steep tit-for-tat duties with China. Earlier Monday, National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett told CNBC that Washington had a 'double digit' number of pacts, including frameworks, nearing agreement. He said that as soon as a major package on tax relief and spending cuts is passed, he expects a 'marathon session' to discuss the tariffs with Trump and decide on rates for countries. Lawmakers have been hoping to get the mega-bill to Trump's desk by July 4.
The Star
35 minutes ago
- The Star
S&P 500, Nasdaq close at record highs, cap best quarter in over a year
NEW YORK: The S&P 500 and Nasdaq reached record closing highs on Monday, capping their best quarter in over a year as hopes for trade deals and possible rate cuts eased investor uncertainty. Both indexes ended the quarter with double-digit gains. The S&P 500 gained 10.57% during the period, the Nasdaq rose 17.75%, and the Dow climbed 4.98%. The Russell 2000 Small Cap index rose 8.28% in the quarter. Still, the three main indexes posted their weakest first-half performances since 2022, as the uncertainty around trade policy has kept investors wary during the year, with tensions peaking after President Donald Trump disclosed widespread tariffs on April 2. Trade deals with China and the UK have fueled optimism that an all-out global trade war can be minimized, with hopes for more deals to be reached before Trump's July 9 trade deadline. The end of the quarter was also influenced by managers tweaking their portfolios to look more attractive at quarter-end. "Animal spirits seem to have taken hold here," said Roy Behren, co-president of Westchester Capital management fund. "It is also quite common for the last couple of days of a quarter to see strength because of the window dressing." On Sunday, Canada scrapped its digital services tax targeting U.S. tech firms, just hours before it was due to take effect, in a bid to advance stalled trade negotiations with the United States. But U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned on Monday that countries could still face sharply higher tariffs on July 9 even if they are negotiating in good faith, and any potential extensions will be up to Trump. Meanwhile, U.S. Senate Republicans will try to pass Trump's sweeping tax-cut and spending bill, despite divisions within the party about its expected $3.3 trillion hit to the $36.2 trillion national debt. Trump wants the bill passed before the July 4 Independence Day holiday. Key economic data releases this week include monthly non-farm payrolls and the Institute for Supply Management's survey on manufacturing and services sectors for June. Several U.S. central bank officials including Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell are scheduled to speak later this week. A raft of soft economic data and expectations that Trump will replace Powell with someone dovish have pushed up bets of rate cuts from the Fed this year. On Monday, nine of the 11 S&P indexes closed up. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 275.50 points, or 0.63%, to 44,094.77, the S&P 500 gained 31.88 points, or 0.52%, to 6,204.95 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 96.28 points, or 0.48%, to 20,369.73. Shares of big U.S. banks rose after most cleared the Federal Reserve's annual "stress test," paving the way for billions in stock buybacks and dividends. Leading the S&P 500 were Hewlett Packard Enterprise, up 11.1 %, First Solar up 8.8 %,and Juniper Networks up 8.45 %. "The current rally was driven by few heavyweight stocks that drove indexes up, giving the market a sense of optimism despite rising deficit and unresolved policy issues," said Cole Smead, CEO and portfolio manager of Smead Capital Management. "The stock market doesn't seem to care at all, people think this party is going to go on forever," he said. "I think this game is over. It's just a matter of when and how bad it gets." Volume on U.S. exchanges was 17.12 billion shares, compared with the 18.23 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days. (Reporting by Sabrina Valle in New York; Additional reporting by Sruthi Shankar and Nikhil Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath and Matthew Lewis)
