U.S. President Donald Trump has said that the deal with TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to sell its US subsidiary will be reached before its 90-day deadline on Saturday.
Recall that TikTok has been caught in a dilemma over the 2024 “sell or ban” law amid years of allegations from the U.S. government that TikTok’s ties to China pose a national security risk and that it exposes Americans’ sensitive information to the Chinese government.
The move which mandates ByteDance to divest its U.S. operations to another owner was given a lifeline after Donald Trump set the April 5 deadline in January for TikTok to find a non-Chinese buyer or face a U.S. ban.
“We have a lot of potential buyers. There’s tremendous interest in Tiktok,” Trump said on Sunday while adding that he would “like to see Tiktok remain alive.”
The U.S. government, under Biden’s administration, held that TikTok’s ownership by ByteDance makes it beholden to the Chinese government and Beijing to use the app to conduct influence operations against the United States and collect data on Americans. Whereas, Donald Trump had promised before his inauguration to rescue the platform.
See Also: TikTok assures African users of online safety.
On the positive side, Americans’ support for the ban is declining. According to a study from the Pew Research Center in a survey of more than 5,000 U.S. adults, it found that just 34 per cent of respondents supported banning the short-form video app. When Pew ran a similar study in 2023, 50 per cent of adults supported the TikTok ban.
Over the same period, the study also shows growing opposition, with more Americans opposing the ban. While 22 per cent of respondents opposed it in 2023, that population rose to 32 per cent in the recent study.
TikTok hints at potential buyers
In a bid to rescue the short video platform, which has over 170 million American subscribers, several potential buyers have emerged over the past weeks.
While the countdown looms on its future, the social media platform has yet to resolve a buyer. American companies like Oracle, Microsoft, and Perplexity AI are rumored to have an interest in buying TikTok, but ByteDance has not indicated that it plans on the acquisition.
A Reuters report on Friday explained that a private equity firm, Blackstone, is weighing plans to acquire a small minority stake in TikTok’s U.S. firm. Blackstone is discussing joining ByteDance’s existing non-Chinese shareholders, led by Susquehanna International Group and General Atlantic, in contributing fresh capital to bid for TikTok’s U.S. business. According to the report, the group has emerged as a front-runner.
There were also previous claims that X owner Elon Musk had intentions of acquiring the platform. However, the billionaire refuted the claims via a video call.
“I have not put in a bid for TikTok,” Musk said just a week after US President Donald Trump said he was open to Musk buying the ByteDance-owned app if he wanted.
Trump noted that he was willing to extend the April 5 deadline if an agreement is not reached. He added that China will play a big role in getting any deal done and its approval, saying that “maybe I’ll give them a little reduction in tariffs or something to get it done.”
In addition, Vice President JD Vance has said he expects the general terms of an agreement resolving the ownership of the social media platform to be reached by April 5. The White House has been involved to an unprecedented level in the closely watched deal talks as it plays the role of an investment bank.
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