President Donald Trump on Sunday said a deal has been struck to sell TikTok’s U.S. operations to a group of “very wealthy people,” a declaration that, if true, marks a pivotal moment in the long-running battle over the app’s future in the United States.
In an interview aired on Fox News, Trump claimed the buyer would be revealed in “about two weeks,” adding that Chinese approval would “probably” be necessary, but he expressed confidence that Chinese President Xi Jinping would greenlight the transaction.
A Reprieve in a High-Stakes Standoff
The announcement follows months of rising pressure on TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to divest its U.S. operations or face a total ban. Trump has already extended the government’s deadline three times — most recently on June 19 — pushing the cut-off to September 17, 2025.
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A White House spokesperson, Karoline Leavitt, said the extension aims to give the administration enough time to “ensure this deal is closed so that the American people can continue to use TikTok with the assurance that their data is safe and secure.”
A failure to complete the sale would likely result in TikTok being forced off U.S. app stores and disabled for American users, a move that would affect over 170 million Americans who currently use the app.
Temporary Outage Revealed the Stakes
The urgency of the matter was laid bare earlier this year when TikTok briefly went offline for millions of U.S. users on January 19, the original deadline for ByteDance to divest. Many users were met with a stark message:
“Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now. A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now.”
Access was later restored after Trump intervened, but the temporary blackout served as a preview of what could happen if the September deadline is missed.
Who Are the Buyers?
While Trump declined to name names, he assured that the group behind the proposed acquisition comprises “very wealthy people.” Previous expressions of interest in acquiring TikTok have come from:
- Former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who earlier this year revealed he was forming a consortium to buy the app.
- “Shark Tank” star Kevin O’Leary, who has previously stated that TikTok’s value could surge if American-owned.
- YouTube star MrBeast, who hinted at interest, although more as a public gesture than a formal bid.
- Frank McCourt, the real estate billionaire and former LA Dodgers owner, who launched “Project Liberty,” a movement focused on “rebuilding the internet” and expressed interest in acquiring TikTok to shift control to users.
Despite the buzz, no buyer has been publicly confirmed, and it remains unclear whether Trump’s “wealthy group” overlaps with any of these known parties.
Chinese Approval Remains a Critical Hurdle
Perhaps the most uncertain variable in the process is Beijing’s role. Under China’s export control laws, any sale of TikTok’s algorithm, widely considered the app’s most valuable asset, would need approval from the Chinese government.
Trump acknowledged that caveat during his interview when he said “I would probably need China’s approval.”
China has previously shown reluctance to allow the transfer of the algorithm behind TikTok, especially to a U.S.-based buyer. In 2020, when a similar divestiture was floated under Trump’s first term, China imposed new export restrictions on artificial intelligence technologies — a move widely seen as an attempt to prevent ByteDance from offloading its recommendation engine.
If completed, the sale would represent a rare Chinese-U.S. technology decoupling, one that carries both diplomatic and financial consequences. ByteDance is one of the most valuable startups in the world, and TikTok is estimated to be worth anywhere between $30 billion and $300 billion, depending on how the sale is structured and whether the algorithm is included.
Moreover, the sale could have wider ramifications for how the U.S. treats other Chinese tech companies. It also comes at a time when President Trump is escalating trade tensions with China and other countries — including Canada, which he called off negotiations with after Ottawa moved ahead with a digital services tax targeting U.S. tech giants.
The TikTok situation also speaks to a broader push by the Trump administration to regain control over digital infrastructure and data sovereignty. TikTok’s vast user data and its influence among young Americans have made it a persistent concern for U.S. national security officials.
What’s Next for TikTok: Deal or Ban?
With less than three months to go before the September 17 deadline, all eyes are now on whether Trump’s mystery buyers can finalize the deal — and if China will allow it to proceed. Failing that, the U.S. may once again move to forcibly remove TikTok from its digital ecosystem, though Trump had signaled intention to extend the deadline once again.
“President Trump does not want TikTok to go dark,” Leavitt reiterated in a June statement, “but he is committed to securing Americans’ data from foreign adversaries.”
