On Monday night, President Donald Trump asserted that Microsoft is among the US companies looking to acquire possession of TikTok in order to help the well-known program escape an effective restriction that may be implemented in April.
“I would say yes,” Trump said to reporters when asked whether Microsoft was among the companies eager to help bring about a new ownership of TikTok, as mandated by Congress to maintain the service running in the United States.
Trump further said that while other companies expressed interest in buying TikTok, he refrained from revealing a list. Microsoft chose not to reply. Representatives of TikTok did not reply right away to a request for comments.
Identify the ownership for 75 days
Last week, in one of his first acts in office, Trump delayed TikTok’s deadline to identify new ownership that satisfies federal criteria by 75 days, from January 19 until April 4.
The president has said he is searching for the perfect bidder to provide China-based ByteDance with 50% ownership in the company. However, it’s unclear whether he wants another US institution or the government to take over the app.
A person familiar with the case said that Perplexity AI presented ByteDance last week with a fresh idea: allowing the US government to own up to 50% of a new company created by the combination of Perplexity and TikTok app US businesses.
Publicly expressing their wish to purchase TikTok’s US platform are several other investors, most notably billionaire Frank McCourt and Trump’s former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Trump has also stated that he casually discussed the company with “many people.”
ByteDance declared that it had no intentions to sell the platform and contested the law in court for months following former President Joe Biden signing the bipartisan resolution in April. China also criticized Washington about the divestment push, although its attitude seems to be changing recently.
Law Abiding Company
Bill Ford, chairman of General Atlantic, a ByteDance board member, said in media interviews last week that the firm is ready to cooperate with the Trump government and Chinese authorities in search of a solution keeping TikTok running. He also mentioned that ByteDance might find a solution that is less drastic than a complete divestment.
Concerned about Chinese ownership and possible manipulation of the immensely popular network used by over 170 million US users, legislators and officials from both sides have voiced national security issues.
Before reversing his view last year, Trump supported a TikTok ban. He attributes increased youthful voters in the most recent presidential contest to the program.
During his first administration, Microsoft and Walmart launched a fruitless push for the app when Trump tried to ban TikTok.
Bipartisan concern
Signed by former US President Joe Biden in response to bipartisan concerns about the platform being used to pilfer Americans’ personal data and shape public opinion, the law helps to enable the TikTok ban. Rejecting claims that the prohibition violated the free speech safeguards of the US Constitution, the US Supreme Court decided unanimously earlier this month to maintain the TikTok ban.
