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Khushboo Razdan

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he would be supportive of the world’s richest man and his close aide, Elon Musk, buying TikTok “if he wanted to”.
Trump was asked if he would be open to the billionaire founder of Tesla buying the short-video platform facing a nationwide ban in the US after the Supreme Court last week upheld a law requiring TikTok to sever ties with its Chinese parent ByteDance.
“If he wanted to,” he responded, adding: “I have the right to make a deal.”
Trump said he had met with the “big owners” of TikTok, describing the app as “worthless” without his approval.
“So what I’m thinking about saying to somebody is, buy it and give half to the United States of America, half, and we’ll give you the permit,” the president explained, calling his plan “reasonable”.
“And they’ll have something that’s actually more valuable because they have the ultimate partner and the United States will make it very worthwhile for them in terms of the permits and everything else,” he added.


While concluding his remarks on TikTok, Trump turned to Larry Ellison, Oracle’s chief technology officer and co-founder of the American computer tech giant, who stood next to him, and asked for his opinion on the deal.
Trump, pointing at Ellison, said, “He can afford it too.”
On Monday, Trump signed an executive order to extend TikTok’s deadline to convince the US government that it is not a national security threat and find an American investor by 75 days.
After signing the order, the president quipped: “I tell you what. Every rich person has called me about TikTok”.
He later suggested that he could impose hefty tariffs on China if Beijing didn’t approve a deal to his liking.
In recent days, interest in TikTok’s purchase has risen.
On Sunday, a consortium of American investors led by tech entrepreneur Jesse Tinsley and featuring a top TikTok creator, Mr Beast, announced their bid for the platform.
Earlier this month, billionaire Frank McCourt, former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, along with ‘Shark Tank’ investor Kevin O’Leary put forth their own formal offer to acquire TikTok.
O’Leary met with Trump at the president’s Florida residence Mar-a-Lago to discuss the proposal. He has reportedly offered US$20 billion cash for the embattled platform.
Also earlier this month, Bloomberg reported that Chinese officials were considering whether to allow a possible sale to Musk, who has deep business ties in China.
The report also mentioned that a 50-50 partnership with Musk was under discussion.




Musk has neither publicly commented on the report nor divulged his intentions about possibly buying the app.
On Sunday, Musk posted on social media that it was “unbalanced” for TikTok to operate in the US while X, which he owns, was banned in China.
“I have been against a TikTok ban for a long time because it goes against freedom of speech,” he added.
TikTok has described speculation that Musk is considering buying TikTok as “pure fiction”.
Boasting some 170 million users in the US, TikTok went dark stateside for a few hours on Sunday when the law took effect. But the company restored its services after Trump promised to give it more time to negotiate its future.
The company in a statement on Sunday said that it would work with Trump “on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States”.
Throughout his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump promised to “save” TikTok, in stark contrast to his position during his first term.
In 2020, Trump raised the idea of banning TikTok if ByteDance did not sell it and issued an executive order to that effect. The order was thrown out by a federal district court.
But he reversed his opposition last year after meeting Jeff Yass, a billionaire Republican Party donor who is a top investor in ByteDance.


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US-China relations

Donald Trump says he’s open to Elon Musk buying TikTok ‘if he wanted to’

US President Donald Trump speaks to journalists about TikTok as he signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Monday. Photo: AFP/Getty Images/TNS

Trump signs TikTok executive order delaying app ban, threatens tariffs

US President Donald Trump signs an executive order on TikTok in the Oval Office on Monday. Photo: AP

China softens stance on TikTok deal in US as Trump offers 75-day grace period, sources say

An iPhone displaying the TikTok page in Apple’s App Store in the US on January 17. Photo: EPA-EFE

US President Donald Trump signs numerous executive orders, including a delay on enforcing a ban on TikTok, in the Oval Office of the White House on January 20. Photo: EPA-EFE

ByteDance launches AI code editor based on Microsoft software as TikTok ban is delayed

ByteDance’s office in Singapore on March 6, 2024. The Singapore-based subsidiary Spring (SG) Pte is responsible for distributing the company’s new coding software Trae. Photo: Harvey Kong

ByteDance’s Trae is a fork of Microsoft’s popular Visual Studio Code. Photo: Trae

Donald Trump asks US Supreme Court to halt TikTok ban

TikTok is challenging the US law that would require it to sell to a non-Chinese buyer or else face a ban. Photo: SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

US president-elect Trump currently has more than 14 million followers on TikTok. Photo: AFP/various sources

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Billionaire given green light by US president, whose executive order extended company’s deadline to find a non-Chinese buyer by 75 days


Billionaire given green light by US president, whose executive order extended company’s deadline to find a non-Chinese buyer by 75 days.
