Trump Says TikTok Has 'A Lot Of Potential Buyers,' Deal To Come Before Saturday Deadline

President Donald Trump told reporters on Sunday that an agreement to sell TikTok’s U.S. operations to a non-Chinese buyer is expected to be finalized before the April 5 deadline. 

The Details: President Trump set the Saturday deadline for a sale in January under a 2024 law requiring ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, to divest the app or face a ban over national security concerns. 

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One late Sunday, Trump expressed his desire to "see TikTok remain alive." 

“We have a lot of potential buyers,” Trump said, adding, “There’s tremendous interest in TikTok.”

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Potential Buyers: Private equity firm Blackstone, Inc. BX is reportedly considering a small minority investment in TikTok, according to Reuters. The firm would join a group of existing investors led by Susquehanna International Group and General Atlantic with plans to spin off TikTok’s U.S. operations into a separate entity. 

Other potential buyers include a group led by Oracle Corp. ORCL, TikTok's U.S. data partner, and Project Liberty, a group led by Frank McCourt that includes Kevin O'Leary from “Shark Tank” and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. 

What Else: Last week, Trump said he was open to reducing tariffs on China as part of the negotiation to transfer TikTok’s ownership to a U.S. buyer before the deadline. 

"With respect to TikTok, and China is going to have to play a role in that, possibly in the form of an approval, maybe, and I think they'll do that," Trump said. "Maybe I'll give them a little reduction in tariffs or something to get it done."

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