Former President Donald Trump announced that he has identified a buyer for TikTok, the popular social media platform owned by Chinese company ByteDance. Trump still did not disclose the identity of the interested buyers. He agreed to name them in a fortnight’s time. This announcement comes amid ongoing debate about the fate of TikTok in the U.S.
This isn’t the first time Trump has indicated support for a joint venture with TikTok. He hinted that allies, such as Larry Ellison and Elon Musk could be potential buyers for the app. However, as negotiations continue, Musk seems like a much less likely choice for purchase.
In January, Trump posted his “first impression” of a joint venture that would leave U.S. ownership of TikTok at a 50% stake. He thinks this step is essential to addressing national security concerns about data privacy and foreign influence, including through social media.
“We have a buyer for TikTok, by the way,” – Donald Trump
As talks continue, one thing that hasn’t changed is Trump’s insistence that any deal be approved by China. Those aspects, he believes, are key to any deal being successful. He remarked, “I think I’ll need probably China’s approval. I think President Xi [Jinping] will probably do it.” This pronouncement highlights the precariousness of negotiations between a Chinese company and U.S. economic and national security interests.
The former president had, for months, already stymied legislative attempts to compel ByteDance to sell off its U.S. operations. A proposed bill aims to compel ByteDance to either sell TikTok or face a ban in the United States, but Trump has extended the deadline for action multiple times, further complicating the situation.
Each of these make the prospect of a new ownership structure a rocky proposition, especially regulatory approvals and what it would mean about user data security. As negotiations continue, a broad coalition of stakeholders is watching to see how these developments will affect the billions of dollars and millions of American TikTok users.
