Washington, DC (BN24) – President Donald Trump announced that a consortium of wealthy investors has agreed to acquire TikTok’s U.S. operations, as the Chinese-owned video platform faces the threat of a ban unless it finds an American buyer.
Speaking in an interview with Fox News, Trump said the buyers would be disclosed “in about two weeks” and indicated that the transaction would likely require Beijing’s consent.
“It’s a group of very wealthy people,” Trump said. “I think I’ll probably need China approval. I think President Xi will probably do it.”
The president’s remarks came more than a year after the U.S. ordered TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to divest its American operations over concerns that user data could be accessed by the Chinese government. ByteDance has denied the allegations, insisting that TikTok does not share sensitive information with Chinese authorities.
Under Trump’s directive, TikTok was initially given until January 19 to secure a buyer. When the deadline passed, the app briefly “went dark,” alarming millions of U.S. users before service was restored. Trump has since extended the timeline multiple times, most recently on June 19, when he signed an executive order moving the cutoff to September 17.
While Trump did not name the buyers, speculation has swirled around high-profile figures including YouTube star MrBeast, emerging search engine Perplexity AI, and Shark Tank investor Kevin O’Leary.
ByteDance said in April that talks with the U.S. government were ongoing but acknowledged “differences on many key issues.” Any final deal is expected to require approval from Chinese regulators.
Trump’s comments on TikTok coincided with renewed focus on his trade agenda. He confirmed that the suspension of tariffs on imported goods is nearing an end, with a July 9 deadline approaching.
In April, the administration granted a 90-day reprieve to give countries facing tariffs exceeding 10% additional time to negotiate agreements. Some nations, including the UK, have already secured deals to avoid the levies.
Trump told Fox News that letters would soon be dispatched notifying countries of their tariff rates.
“We’ll look at the deficit we have — or whatever it is with the country,” he said. “We’ll look at how the country treats us — are they good, are they not so good. Some countries, we don’t care — we’ll just send a high number out.”
The president said he did not anticipate extending the deadline again and portrayed the tariffs as a corrective measure to rebalance trade relationships and revive U.S. industries such as automobile manufacturing.
