In brief
In a recent Fox News interview, former President Donald Trump disclosed that he may have found a buyer for the controversial video-sharing app TikTok, previously banned in the US due to national security concerns. Trump mentioned that a collective of "very wealthy people" is interested in acquiring the platform and teased that more details would be revealed in about two weeks. Although any sale would require approval from the Chinese government, Trump expressed optimism that President Xi Jinping would comply.
This development follows a third delay in the enforcement of a law mandating TikTok's sale, which now extends the deadline to September 17, 2023. The US Congress had previously pushed for this sale, citing fears that TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, might share sensitive user data with the Chinese government—a claim TikTok has consistently denied. Despite having publicly criticized TikTok during his presidency, Trump's stance appears to have shifted as he aims to leverage the app's popularity in the upcoming 2024 elections. Notably, a previous attempt to sell TikTok to an American buyer faltered earlier this year due to tensions between the US and China over trade tariffs. Nonetheless, it remains unclear whether the prospective buyers mentioned by Trump are the same as those involved in earlier negotiations. TikTok has contested the legality of the sale but faced setbacks in court, including a failed appeal at the Supreme Court.
