U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday that a group of buyers had been found for TikTok, which for a long time has been facing a potential ban in the U.S. due to its China ties, adding he could name the purchasers in two weeks.
"We have a buyer for TikTok, by the way," Trump said in an interview on Fox's Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo.
"Very wealthy people. It's a group of wealthy people," the president said, without revealing more except to say he would make their identities known "in about two weeks."
The president also said he would likely need "China's approval" for the sale, "and I think President Xi (Jinping) will probably do it."
TikTok is owned by China-based internet company ByteDance.
A federal law requiring TikTok's sale or ban on national security grounds was due to take effect the day before Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20. But the Republican, whose 2024 election campaign relied heavily on social media and who has said he is fond of TikTok, put the ban on pause.
In mid-June, Trump extended a deadline for the popular video-sharing app by another 90 days to find a non-Chinese buyer or be banned in the United States.
Tech experts quickly described the TikTok kerfuffle as a symbol of the heated U.S.-China tech rivalry.
While Trump had long supported a ban or divestment, he reversed his position and vowed to defend the platform – which boasts almost 2 billion global users – after coming to believe it helped him win young voters' support in the November election.
"I have a little warm spot in my heart for TikTok," Trump told NBC News in early May. "If it needs an extension, I would be willing to give it an extension."
Now, after two extensions pushed the deadline to June 19, Trump has extended it for a third time.
He said in May that a group of purchasers was ready to pay ByteDance "a lot of money" for TikTok's U.S. operations.
The previous month, he said China would have agreed to a deal on the sale of TikTok if it were not for a dispute over Trump's tariffs on Beijing.
ByteDance has confirmed talks with the U.S. government, saying key matters needed to be resolved and that any deal would be "subject to approval under Chinese law."
