Trump Says “Very Rich Individuals” Are Able to Purchase TikTok

Simply weeks after extending the deadline for its sale for a 3rd time, President Donald Trump introduced Sunday that he has discovered a purchaser for TikTok’s U.S. operations.

The favored social media app has been below intense strain attributable to a legislation handed in 2024 that requires its Chinese language guardian firm, ByteDance, to promote the platform or face a nationwide ban. The laws stems from bipartisan concern in Washington that the Chinese language authorities may entry the information of American customers or use the app to affect public opinion.

“We’ve a purchaser for TikTok,” Trump advised Fox Information host Maria Bartiromo on her “Sunday Morning Futures” program. He steered that the deal would nonetheless require approval from Beijing. “I’ll want in all probability China approval and I believe President Xi will in all probability do it.”

When pressed for extra particulars, Trump remained imprecise. He added that, “It’s a bunch of very rich folks,” and stated he would reveal their names in “on about two weeks.” He didn’t present any further info.

.@POTUS: “We’ve a purchaser for TikTok… I’ll want in all probability China approval and I believe President Xi will in all probability do it… It’s a bunch of very rich folks.” pic.twitter.com/N8tWYfKjYg

— Fast Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) June 29, 2025

This announcement comes after a interval of intense negotiation and political maneuvering. The divest-or-ban legislation, handed by Congress in 2024, gave ByteDance a 270 day window to promote TikTok. That deadline was prolonged for a 3rd time in mid June, pushing the brand new date to September 17 and permitting the app’s 170 million American customers to proceed accessing the platform for now.

In accordance with a number of experiences, a deal was practically reached in early April. That settlement would have separated TikTok’s U.S. operations from ByteDance, with a bunch of American buyers led by the tech firm Oracle and together with asset supervisor Blackstone and entrepreneur Michael Dell taking a majority stake. Nevertheless, the transaction reportedly stalled after Trump introduced a brand new wave of steep commerce tariffs, notably focusing on China.

Extra just lately, after the 2 international locations agreed on a “basic framework” to normalize commerce relations in early June, Beijing has appeared extra prepared to approve sure exports. This might clear a path for the delicate algorithms and know-how that underpin TikTok to be included in a sale.

Regardless of the geopolitical turmoil, TikTok’s recognition in america stays immense. The social community boasts 170 million customers, together with 7.5 million enterprise accounts starting from massive firms to small and medium sized enterprises. In accordance with the specialist web site Appfigures, TikTok is at present the second most downloaded app in america on Android telephones, simply behind ChatGPT.

What occurs subsequent—particularly whether or not Trump’s thriller purchaser is actual or viable—stays unclear. However with the September deadline approaching, the political and financial stakes surrounding TikTok’s destiny are rising.