US Courts New Buyers For TikTok As Deal Deadline Approaches: 'All Four Are Good,' Says Trump

The Trump administration is reportedly in discussions with four different groups regarding the sale of the Chinese short video platform, TikTok.

What Happened: On Sunday, U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed that his administration was communicating with four different groups regarding the sale of TikTok, reported Reuters. TikTok’s future has been uncertain since a Biden-administration law, that requires its owner, ByteDance, to either sell the platform on national security grounds by Apr 5 or risk a ban, came into effect on Jan 19.

President Trump, after assuming office on Jan. 20, signed an executive order aiming to postpone the law’s enforcement by 75 days. When asked if a deal on TikTok was imminent, Trump told reporters while on board Air Force One, “It could.”

“We’re dealing with four different groups, and a lot of people want it … all four are good,” he added.

Although ByteDance has not expressed any interest in selling TikTok's U.S. operations, CEO Chew Shou Zi met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in December and was also present at his inauguration ceremony.

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Why It Matters: The potential sale of TikTok comes amid growing tensions between the U.S. and China over data security. The uncertainty at TikTok has also attracted several potential buyers, including Frank McCourt, former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers. McCourt’s bid for TikTok’s U.S. operations has been bolstered by the addition of Reddit Inc. RDDT co-founder and venture capitalist Alexis Ohanian as a strategic adviser for Project Liberty, known as “The People’s Bid”.  

YouTube star MrBeast and tech entrepreneur Jesse Tinsley are some of the other bidders. Notably, Trump has also suggested the name of Larry Ellison, the founder of Oracle Corporation ORCL. Analysts estimate the fast-growing business could be worth as much as $50 billion.

Interestingly, Elon Musk, the owner of the X social network, has stated that he is not interested.

Trump’s comments come on the heels of TikTok committing $8.8 billion in data centers in Thailand over five years, bypassing US-China tech tensions.

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.