Last week, President Trump told reporters on Air Force One that he had "spoken to many people about TikTok and there is great interest" in the app.
Trump did not offer any specific names, but said that "numerous people are talking to me, very substantial people, about buying it, and I will make that decision probably over the next 30 days."
While signing executive orders on Feb. 3, Trump ordered the U.S. Treasury and Commerce Departments to create a sovereign wealth fund that he suggested could buy TikTok.
TikTok has dominated headlines since April, when then-President Joe Biden signed a law passed by Congress requiring the popular app, which is owned by a Chinese company, to be sold or be banned in the United States.
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In one of the first official acts of his second term in the White House, Trump signed an executive order delaying for 75 days the enforcement of the planned ban on TikTok — which had been set to take effect on Jan. 19 — and proposed that the U.S. should “own 50%” of the platform in what he called a “joint venture.”
The Biden administration and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have argued that TikTok’s Chinese ownership presents a potential threat to national security, and the Supreme Court agreed, moving to uphold the ban on Jan. 17.
TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, has said it has no plans to sell TikTok, citing in part the Chinese government’s opposition to a sale. However, on Jan. 20, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told reporters that the decision “should be independently decided by companies in accordance with market principles.”
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Katie Mather
Trump signs executive order to create sovereign wealth fund, suggests it could buy TikTok
President Trump holds up a signed executive order in the Oval Office of the White House on Monday. (Evan Vucci/Associated Press)
President Trump signed an executive order on Monday directing the U.S. Treasury and Commerce departments to build the first U.S. sovereign wealth fund that, he said, could "perhaps" buy TikTok.
"I think it's about time that this country had a sovereign wealth fund," Trump said after signing the executive order. "I think in a short period of time, we'd have one of the biggest funds."
It is still unclear where the money will come from to start the fund, though Trump has previously suggested it could be funded by "tariffs and other intelligent things," Reuters reported. The sovereign wealth fund will also require Congressional approval before it launches.
"TikTok — we're going to be doing something, perhaps, with TikTok, and perhaps not, if we make the right deal we'll do it, otherwise we won't, but I have the right to do that," Trump told reporters. "We might put that in the sovereign wealth fund."
Katie Mather
Trump says Microsoft is in talks to buy TikTok
Credit: Jakub Porzycki/Getty Images
President Trump told reporters on Monday that Microsoft is in talks to purchase TikTok and suggested that he would like to see multiple companies compete for the chance to acquire the app.
“I like bidding wars because you make the best deal,” he said. “So if we have a bidding war, that’s a good thing. But we have a lot of interest in it.”
Microsoft has not publicly commented on whether it is currently seeking to buy TikTok. The company was one of the top bidders for the app in 2020, during Trump's first term, when he ordered TikTok to separate from ByteDance because of national security concerns.
Back in 2021, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella called the failed deal the "strangest thing I've ever worked on."
Katie Mather
Perplexity AI presents proposal to TikTok's parent company, ByteDance
Perplexity AI submitted a plan to ByteDance last week that proposed the U.S. government should own up to 50% of a new business that would be a combination of Perplexity and TikTok's U.S. business, the Associated Press reported. Now, the company has formally presented that plan to ByteDance.
Perplexity AI is a conversational AI tool with an emphasis on providing proper citations and accurate information. Its CEO, Aravind Srinivas, previously worked at OpenAI and its CTO, Denis Yarats, was an AI research scientist at Meta.
According to insiders who spoke to the AP, the Trump administration provided edits and feedback on Perplexity's proposal before it was sent to ByteDance.
Katie Mather
Trump tells reporters TikTok sale will 'probably' be made within next 30 days
Credit: Mark Schiefelbein/Associated Press
President Trump spoke to reporters on Air Force One about the potential sale of TikTok, as he traveled from Las Vegas to Miami on Jan. 25.
"Numerous people are talking to me," Trump said, referring to unspecified parties potentially interested in purchasing the app. "Very substantial people." He added that he expects a decision will be officially made "probably" within "the next 30 days."
Despite previous reports that the Trump administration was seriously working with the Oracle Corporation, one of the world's largest software companies and one of the three major backers behind Trump's $500 billion AI infrastructure investment, Trump clarified that he had not spoken directly to Oracle's co-founder and chief technology officer, Larry Ellison.
When asked about the TikTok deal at an earlier press conference on Jan. 21, Trump said, referring to Ellison, "I'd like Larry to buy it."
Katie Mather
Trump questions whether potential TikTok security issues are 'that important'
President Trump this week questioned the idea that TikTok's Chinese parent company ByteDance could pose a threat to U.S. national security.
In an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity on Jan. 22, Trump asked: “Is it that important for China to be spying on young people, on young kids, watching crazy videos?” Trump asked. “They make your telephones and they make your computers and they make a lot of other things. ... Isn’t that a bigger threat?”
This came days after Trump signed an executive order to pause the social platform's ban for 75 days, saying his administration would figure out “the appropriate course forward in an orderly way that protects national security while avoiding an abrupt shutdown” of TikTok.
In 2020, Trump signed an executive order that warned China could use TikTok to conduct disinformation campaigns, build dossiers of personal information for blackmail and conduct corporate espionage.
Katie Mather
iPhones with TikTok app installed listed for thousands of dollars on eBay
But it was ultimately a good decision because TikTok quickly began operating in the U.S. again, specifically for people who kept the app. The Apple and Google app stores no longer offer the option to download the app, even if you have an account. Therefore, fans who deleted it in preparation for the ban can no longer access it. It's unclear when TikTok will return to app stores. President Trump on Monday signed an executive order that delays the ban for 75 days.
As of Thursday, several used iPhones with the TikTok app are listed for sale on eBay, going for up to $10,000.
eBay screenshot. (Katie Mather/Yahoo News)
eBay screenshot. (Katie Mather/Yahoo News)
eBay screenshot. (Katie Mather/Yahoo News)
It is unclear if any of these listings have been successful and sales have been made; eBay did not respond to Yahoo News' request for comment. But eBay's site notes the number of people who have viewed the listing and added it to their shopping cart.
Stephanie Mistre, 51, holds a picture of her daughter, Marie Le Tiec, who died by suicide in 2021. (Tom Nouvian/AP)
Seven families are suing TikTok in France, accusing the platform of failing to moderate harmful content to its young users. Out of the seven families involved in the lawsuit, two families have experienced losing their children to suicide.
In its community guidelines, TikTok says it does not allow “showing, promoting or sharing plans for suicide or self-harm.”
“We care deeply about your well-being and seek to be a source of happiness, enrichment and belonging,” the platform says in its mental and behavioral ealth section.
The lawsuit, which was filed in November, alleges that TikTok’s algorithm is intentionally trapping vulnerable users in depressing content.
Laure Boutron-Marmion, a lawyer representing the families suing TikTok, told the Associated Press that the case is based on “extensive evidence” and TikTok "can no longer hide behind the claim that it’s not their responsibility because they don’t create the content.”
YouTuber MrBeast awarded favorite male creator at the 2023 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards. (Richard Shotwell/AP)
Multiple American companies and entrepreneurs have offered to buy TikTok from ByteDance, including former Los Angeles Dodgers owner and Project Liberty founder Frank McCourt, who in December pulled together a group of investors. One of those investors is Kevin O’Leary, a Shark Tank host, who told Yahoo Finance that the group is “willing to pay up to $20 billion” for the app. Project Liberty announced last week that it had formally submitted a proposal to ByteDance to buy TikTok.
YouTube’s famous creator Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast, posted on Jan. 15 that he had met with several billionaires and had “an offer ready” to buy TikTok. He did not share much information about who he was meeting with or what the plan looked like.
While it’s been reported by other outlets that Donaldson has joined a group with investors to buy TikTok, his spokesman Matthew Hiltzik told Yahoo News that “while several potential buyers are in ongoing discussions with Jimmy, he has no exclusive agreements with any of them.”
Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal reported that Chinese government officials allegedly discussed selling TikTok to Elon Musk, who also owns X. Musk has not commented on the reports but has publicly slammed the TikTok ban and said it was “contrary to freedom of speech and expression.”
Katie Mather
ByteDance board member is confident TikTok will be sold soon
General Atlantic CEO Bill Ford, who is a board member and one of the major investors in TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance, said at an Axios event in Davos, Switzerland, that he truly believes ByteDance will reach a deal selling TikTok.
"We'll get on with it, as soon as maybe the end of the week in terms of negotiating what might work,” Ford said on Jan. 22. “The Chinese government, the U.S. government and the company and the board all have to be involved in this conversation."
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