U.S. President Donald Trump has announced that a group of "very wealthy individuals" is ready to purchase TikTok, but emphasized that any deal would require the approval of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“We have a buyer for TikTok, by the way. I think I’ll need China’s approval, and I believe President Xi will likely give it,” Trump said during an appearance on Fox News’ "Sunday Morning Futures," according to a report by Meduza. He did not name the potential investors but hinted that details could be disclosed “in about two weeks.”
Trump’s comments come amid ongoing uncertainty over the future of the popular video-sharing app in the U.S. In spring 2024, the House of Representatives passed legislation that could ban TikTok in the U.S. unless it is separated from its Chinese parent company ByteDance.
American lawmakers have expressed concerns that the Chinese government could gain access to U.S. user data through TikTok. Initially, the deadline for divesting TikTok's U.S. operations was set for January 19 — one day before Trump’s inauguration. Since taking office, he has extended the deadline twice, most recently by 75 days.
“We don’t want TikTok to disappear. We look forward to working with TikTok and China to complete the deal,” Trump previously stated.
TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (lit. 'Shaking Sound'), is a social media and short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration from three seconds to 60 minutes. It can be accessed through a mobile app or through its website. Since its launch, TikTok has become one of the world's most popular social media platforms, using recommendation algorithms to connect content creators and influencers with new audiences. In April 2020, TikTok surpassed two billion mobile downloads worldwide. Cloudflare ranked TikTok the most popular website of 2021, surpassing Google. The popularity of TikTok has allowed viral trends in food, fashion, and music to take off and increase the platform's cultural impact worldwide.
