Millions of TikTok users across the US breathed a sigh of relief earlier this month when President Donald Trump agreed to extend the deadline by which the app’s owner, China’s ByteDance, must either approve an American buyer for it or risk a nationwide ban.
Over the weekend, Trump sat down for a Fox News interview during which he delivered a major update on the search.
According to The Hill, he teased that there was already a buyer lined up for TikTok — but he’s keeping some of the details under wraps for now:
“We have a buyer for TikTok, by the way,” Trump said in an interview on Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures” with Maria Bartiromo.
“I think I’ll need probably China approval, and I think President Xi will probably do it,” he added, referring to China President Xi Jinping.
Asked whom the buyer is, Trump said, “I’ll tell you in about two weeks.”
The president added that the buyers are “very, very wealthy people.”
His teaser sparked plenty of social media speculation this week:
Could it be Trump media company? Integrate with Truth? We shall see.
— Bodyoflite (@Bodyoflite) June 29, 2025
Someone MAGA I hope.
— David Chapa (@PhoenixTTD) June 30, 2025
I hope it’s someone who won’t censor the crap out of people on TikTok cuz it’s pretty bad over there for the conservative voices
—
Outlandish Patriot
Axios also reported on Trump’s announcement:
Zoom out: The popular social media app has been in limbo for months, repeatedly coming up against a deadline to ban it from U.S.-based app stores, only for Trump — who has his own TikTok account — to extend the ban for months at a time.
The first extension came on the first day of his second term, followed by another in April when the White House thought a deal to place the app under American ownership was imminent.
Instead, China balked at the deal and forced Trump to issue a second extension of the ban.
The third extension — enacted on June 19 — was in yet another effort to push a potential deal over the finish line, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told the media at a press briefing that day.
Between the lines: Trump offered no details Sunday as to what the deal entails or how quickly it would be completed.
“I think I’ll probably need China [sic] approval,” he said. “I think President Xi [Jinping] will probably do it.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also addressed the matter during a Monday press conference:
Reporter: On TikTok, the president says he has a buyer. Do you have any indication from the Chinese government that they have authorized the sale?
Leavitt: I can tell you that these discussions regarding the sale have been ongoing at the highest level, and they will continue. pic.twitter.com/54ESIqVkMk
— Acyn (@Acyn) June 30, 2025
Your thoughts?
This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport.
View the original article here.
Source link