The TikTok app, in which users upload their short videos, will be discontinued in the US unless it is sold to a US company by September 15, US President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday.
“We set a date – around September 15th, (the TikTok app) will then stop working in the US. But if Microsoft or anyone else buys it, it would be interesting,” the US President said, noting that part of the proceeds from the sale of the application should go to the US Treasury.
Trump added that he discussed this issue with Microsoft, calling for the purchase of the entire application, and not a share in it.
FOX Business previously reported that Microsoft, which is considering purchasing the social media app TikTok, and executives representing TikTok are in talks with the White House to prevent the administration of President Donald Trump from banning the app entirely.
Informed interlocutors told the TV channel that Microsoft has not yet made a final decision on the purchase of the American business TikTok. According to them, even after receiving the approval of the White House for the purchase, the decision can be changed.
Meanwhile, according to people close to TikTok, there are other potential buyers of the app in the US.
In the meantime, knowledgeable sources told the channel that any sale of TikTok will face obstacles from the White House, especially from the US president’s trade advisor Peter Navarro, who supports a complete ban on the app.
According to them, the sale must meet strict conditions under which the Chinese will have nothing to do with the new company.
In turn, the Chinese media, citing Western sources, reported that the US president had given Microsoft 45 days to negotiate with the Chinese company ByteDance, which owns Tik Tok, for a sale agreement.
The observer is the US Foreign Investment Committee, which has the right to block transactions.
Trump said his administration is moving towards a complete US ban on the app, but he also added that he could be open to a deal in which the social network would be bought by an American company such as Microsoft.
In the US, some officials have suggested that the app, which has a base of one billion users, could be linked to the PRC authorities and used to collect data for Beijing. TikTok has repeatedly denied any links to the Chinese government.
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