The sale of TikTok’s U.S. operations will be struck by Saturday (5 April), according to the US President Donald Trump.
The video sharing app, which is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, is used by 170 million people, about half of the American population.
In January, Trump set a 5 April deadline for TikTok’s US business to find a non-Chinese buyer or face a US ban – a law that was introduced under the Biden administration.
TikTok briefly shut down a day before Trump returned to power and extended the sale period.
On Monday, Trump told reporters: “We have a lot of potential buyers. There’s tremendous interest in Tiktok. I’d like to see Tiktok remain alive.”
A consortium including the private equity firm Blackstone have emerged as frontrunners to buy the business. Oracle and Elon Musk–who owns rival platform X and is one of Trump’s closest aides–have also been cited as potential suitors.
Any deal would need to pass muster with the Chinese government. Trump, who has 15 million followers on the app, previously stated he could use the TikTok sale as a bargaining chip in negotiations about Chinese tariffs.
If TikTok divests its US business, there have been no suggestions that it would impact the app in other markets. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has previously said there are no plans to outlaw TikTok’s use in Australia.
