WASHINGTON – Former U.S. President Donald Trump has announced that a deal to sell the U.S. operations of TikTok is nearly finalized, revealing that a group of “very wealthy people” is behind the purchase. Speaking in a Fox News interview aired Sunday on Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo, Trump stated that he would reveal the buyers’ identities in about two weeks.
The former president added that the deal would likely require approval from China, predicting that Chinese President Xi Jinping would probably greenlight the move. The transaction is part of an ongoing effort to force ByteDance, TikTok’s China-based parent company, to divest its U.S. assets in order to comply with U.S. national security laws.
Earlier this month, Trump extended the deadline for ByteDance to complete the divestment to September 17, under a 2024 law mandating a sale or shutdown if significant progress wasn’t made. A proposed deal earlier this year aimed to spin off TikTok’s U.S. operations into a new American-owned company, but the plan was shelved when Beijing expressed opposition following Trump’s renewed tariffs on Chinese imports.
“We have a buyer for TikTok, by the way,” Trump said in the interview. “I think I’ll need probably China’s approval. I think President Xi will probably do it.”
Trump, who has credited TikTok with helping expand his support among younger voters, has already extended the deadline three times, keeping negotiations alive while navigating the complex legal and geopolitical landscape surrounding the app’s future in the U.S.
