On June 29th, US President Trump announced that the popular short video application TikTok has found a buyer. He mentioned that he will reveal the details of the buyer in about two weeks.
President Trump shared this news during an appearance on the Fox News program “Sunday Morning Futures” on Sunday. He emphasized that the buyer is a group of very wealthy individuals.
“By the way, TikTok has a buyer now,” Trump said. “I believe that it may need approval from China, and I think Chairman Xi (referring to the Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping) may approve it.”
While introducing the buyer, the President stated, “They are a very wealthy group.”
During the interview with Fox anchor Maria Bartiromo, Trump did not disclose further details about the buyer and insisted, “I will tell you in about two weeks.”
TikTok is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. US lawmakers have expressed concerns that the Chinese government could potentially use TikTok to access personal information of Americans for espionage activities. They also believe that Beijing could use TikTok’s algorithm for targeted propaganda purposes. However, TikTok has denied that Beijing has any control over the app.
In 2024, Congress passed the “Sell or Ban TikTok” law, requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok’s US operations by a specified deadline set by Congress, or face a complete ban of the app in the United States.
Since taking office as President of the United States on January 20th, Trump signed an executive order to delay the enforcement of the “Sell or Ban TikTok” law for 75 days. He later extended this deadline twice, pushing the enforcement date to September 17th.
While extending the deadline for the enforcement of the ban, Trump has been actively seeking a buyer for TikTok. He has also warned China that if the TikTok deal is not approved, the US will increase tariffs on Chinese goods.