Trump says ‘very wealthy’ group to buy TikTok

The sale requires Chinese approval, and Trump has extended the deadline for the third time. Photo / Joe Raedle, AFP

US President Donald Trump says a group of buyers has been found for TikTok, which faces a looming ban in the United States because of 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 the Fox network.

“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”.

-Agence France-Presse