US: On Sunday (March 30), US President Donald Trump said a deal to sell TikTok, owned by its Chinese parent company ByteDance, would be reached before the April 5 deadline.
The deadline was set in January under a 2024 law requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok to a non-Chinese buyer or face a ban due to national security concerns.
According to Reuters, on late Sunday, the US President told reporters on Air Force One that there was “tremendous interest in TikTok” and mentioned that there were “a lot of potential buyers.” He added that he wanted to see TikTok “alive” in the US.
Earlier this month, US President Trump said his administration was in talks with four groups interested in buying TikTok.
Reuters, citing two sources close to the matter, reported on Friday that private equity firm Blackstone is considering making a small minority investment in TikTok’s US operations.
Blackstone is in talks to join ByteDance’s current non-Chinese shareholders, including Susquehanna International Group and General Atlantic, to provide fresh capital for a bid in the company’s US business. This group is said to be the frontrunner.
Washington said that ByteDance’s control over TikTok makes it vulnerable to Chinese influence and that the Chinese government and Beijing could use the app to gather data on Americans.
The 2024 law requiring ByteDance to divest TikTok by Jan 19 was passed with broad bipartisan support.
Previously, US President Trump said he was willing to extend the April 5 deadline if a deal over the social media app could not be reached. He also acknowledged last week that China would play a role in finalising any deal and said that he might give them “a little reduction in tariffs or something” to finalise the deal.
Vice President JD Vance said he expects the general terms of an agreement to be settled by April 5.
The White House has been closely involved in the deal, taking an unprecedented investment bank role in the negotiations.
TikTok has yet to comment on the latest developments. /TISG
Featured image by Depositphotos (for illustration purposes only)
