Trump: TikTok deal will happen by April 5
Donald Trump (photo: Getty Images)
Donald Trump stated that the deal with TikTok's Chinese parent company, ByteDance, regarding the sale of the short-video app will be concluded by Saturday, reports Reuters.
In January, the US president set a deadline of April 5 for TikTok to find a buyer outside of China. Otherwise, the social media platform faces a potential ban in the US on national security grounds, which would come into effect at the same time in that month, according to a 2024 law.
"We have a lot of potential buyers. There's tremendous interest in Tiktok. I'd like to see Tiktok remain alive," Trump said to reporters aboard Air Force One.
On Friday, Reuters, citing two sources, reported that the private investment firm Blackstone is considering making a small minority investment in TikTok's operations in the US.
Specifically, Blackstone is discussing joining existing non-Chinese shareholders of ByteDance, led by Susquehanna International Group and General Atlantic, to inject fresh capital to participate in the bidding for TikTok's US business. The group has emerged as a leader.
Washington argues that ByteDance’s ownership of TikTok makes it susceptible to the Chinese government, and Beijing could use the app to conduct influence operations against the US and gather data on Americans.
Earlier, Trump stated that he was willing to extend the April deadline if no agreement is reached regarding the social media app.
