Trump says he has group of ‘very wealthy people’ ready to buy TikTok

U.S. President Donald Trump told Fox News successful an interview aired connected Sunday that helium has a radical of "very affluent people" acceptable to bargain TikTok, whose identities helium tin uncover successful astir 2 weeks.

Trump added that the woody volition astir apt request Beijing's support to determination forward, but said "I deliberation President Xi volition astir apt bash it," successful notation to China's person Xi Jinping.

The president made the off-the-cuff remarks portion discussing the anticipation of different intermission of his "reciprocal" tariffs connected Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo." 

Tiktok's destiny successful the U.S. has been successful uncertainty since the support of a instrumentality successful 2024 that sought to prohibition the level unless its Chinese owner, ByteDance, divested from it. The authorities was driven by concerns that the Chinese authorities could manipulate contented and entree delicate information from American users.

Earlier this month, Trump extended the deadline for ByteDance to divest from the platform's U.S. business. It was his 3rd hold since the Supreme Court upheld the TikTok instrumentality conscionable a fewer days earlier Trump's 2nd statesmanlike inauguration successful January. The caller deadline is Sept. 17. 

The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, of PAFACA, had primitively been acceptable to instrumentality effect connected Jan. 19, aft which app store operators and net work providers would beryllium penalized for supporting TikTok.

TikTok went acheronian successful the U.S. up of the archetypal deadline, but was restored aft Trump provided it with assurances connected the extension.

Trump, who credited the app with boosting his enactment among young voters successful the past statesmanlike election, has maintained that helium would similar to spot the level enactment afloat nether caller ownership. 

Potential buyers that person voiced involvement successful the app see Trump insiders specified arsenic Oracle's Larry Ellison to firms similar AppLovin and Perplexity AI. 

However, it's unclear if ByteDance would beryllium consenting to merchantability the company. Any imaginable divestiture is apt to necessitate support from the Chinese government.

A woody that would person spun disconnected TikTok's U.S. operations and allowed ByteDance to clasp a number presumption had been successful the works successful April, but was derailed by the announcement of Donald Trump's tariffs connected China, Reuters reported that month.

The president antecedently floated a connection for American stakeholders to bargain the institution and past merchantability a 50% involvement to the U.S. authorities arsenic portion of a associated venture. 

Experts person antecedently told CNBC that immoderate imaginable woody could look ineligible challenges successful the U.S., depending connected whether it complies with PAFACA.