Donald Trump was clear from the beginning: By signing the executive order granting a 75-day extension for TikTok's operation in the US, he made it clear that he prefers the acquisition of the Chinese social networking platform and its algorithm by American interests rather than banning it.
TikTok stopped working for its 170 million American users late Saturday before the law shutting it down on national security grounds took effect on Sunday.
The Chinese ByteDance platform was banned in the US from Sunday, although it remains operational following a 75-day suspension of the law promoted by the Republican president through an executive order.
Trump said he would “extend the time before the law’s prohibitions go into effect so we can make a deal to protect our national security.” “I would like the United States to have a 50% ownership position in a joint venture,” he wrote on Truth Social.
The 75-day suspension of the “submit or deny” law is designed “to allow the [Trump] administration the opportunity to determine the appropriate course of action with respect to TikTok,” the executive order states.
Did he save it for Musk to take?
"Without US approval, there is no TikTok. With our approval, it is worth hundreds of billions of dollars - maybe trillions," the new US president had said. In fact, yesterday he said he would support the idea of Elon Musk acquiring TikTok if he "wanted it."
Asked if he was open to the idea of Musk buying the platform, Trump replied: “I would be, if he wants to buy it.” He added that “I would like Larry to buy it too,” referring to Larry Ellison.
Whoever buys TikTok must "give half of its equity to the US in exchange for granting it a 'license' to operate in the country," the new president added, as reported by CNBC.
Musk, who is also CEO of SpaceX and owner of social networking app X, was one of Trump's top campaign donors and is in a position to wield considerable influence in government. Ellison is a longtime Trump supporter, and Oracle is TikTok's US cloud infrastructure provider.
Musk on Sunday complained about an “unbalanced” situation between TikTok’s continued presence in the US and the lack of access for the X social networking site in China, where Western tech platforms are generally banned. “Something has to change,” he said.
The last minute intervention
Trump tried to intervene in TikTok's favor at the last minute, even though he was the one who initially pushed for the ban. However, he changed his mind after receiving a strong response to the app during his election campaign.
TikTok CEO Zhou Zhichu posted a video thanking Trump for his efforts to keep the app in the US, and he also attended Trump's inauguration ceremony.
Shortly after the new president's announcements, the TikTok company said it was in the process of restoring its service in the US.
He added that he would work with Trump to find a long-term solution that would maintain the presence of the popular Chinese social networking app in the United States.
It is noted that analysts have valued TikTok's value in the US at around $50 billion.
