US President Donald Trump on Friday said that talks with China on a possible TikTok deal are likely to begin on Monday or Tuesday, adding that the United States “pretty much” has an agreement in place regarding the sale of the short-video app.
“I think we’re gonna start Monday or Tuesday…talking to China, perhaps President Xi or one of his representatives, but we would we pretty much have a deal,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One.
Last month, Trump extended to September 17 a deadline for China-based ByteDance to divest the US assets of TikTok.
New US-Based Firm
A deal had been in the works this spring to spin off TikTok’s US operations into a new US-based firm, majority-owned and operated by US investors, but it was put on hold after China indicated it would not approve it following Trump’s announcements of steep tariffs on Chinese goods.
Trump said the United States will probably have to get a deal approved by China.
When asked how confident he was that China would agree to a deal, he said, “I’m not confident, but I think so. President Xi and I have a great relationship, and I think it’s good for them. I think the deal is good for China and it’s good for us.”
New ‘Wealthy’ Buyers
Earlier this week, Trump said in a Fox News interview broadcast that he had found a buyer for TikTok, which he described as a group of “very wealthy people” whose identities he will reveal in about two weeks.
Trump made the remarks in an interview on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo” programme.
A 2024 US law required TikTok to stop operating by January 19 unless ByteDance had completed divesting the app’s US assets or demonstrated significant progress toward a sale.
Trump, who credits the app with boosting his support among young voters in last November’s presidential election, has extended the deadline three times.
(With inputs from Reuters)
