So, President Trump’s making moves again with TikTok. He told Fox News he’s got a group of “very wealthy people” interested in buying the platform—didn’t drop any names, just said more details are coming in a couple of weeks. Pretty on-brand for him, honestly.
Now, the sale isn’t locked in yet. It still needs the green light from Beijing, and while Trump sounded confident that President Xi might approve it, that’s far from guaranteed. Trump’s been postponing the enforcement of the law requiring TikTok’s sale—this is the third delay now. ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, has a new deadline: September 17th to get a deal done. In the meantime, TikTok’s keeping quiet, and the BBC’s request for comment hasn’t gone anywhere.
Worth noting, this isn’t the first time a potential deal has come up. The last one fell apart in April after tensions between the White House and China, mainly over tariffs. No one really knows if Trump’s current interested buyers are the same group as before.
This all started when Congress passed a law last year requiring TikTok to sell, citing concerns about U.S. user data possibly being accessed by the Chinese government—which TikTok has denied. Trump was pretty vocal against the app during his first term, but now, with the 2024 election in mind, he’s shifted his stance and supports keeping TikTok in the U.S.
The law was supposed to kick in on January 19, but through executive actions, Trump has repeatedly delayed it—something that’s frustrated lawmakers who feel he’s overruling Congress. TikTok did try to challenge the law’s constitutionality, but the Supreme Court didn’t rule in their favor.
At this point, everything’s still in flux. All eyes are on whether ByteDance can reach a deal and if this sale will finally go through.