Newly inaugurated President Donald Trump said on Sunday that if he’s able to halt the ban on TikTok, the US should own half of it.
“I may not do the deal, or I may do the deal. TikTok is worthless, worthless, if I don’t approve it,” Trump said while signing an executive order that would pause the ban on TikTok.
Trump told reporters at the White House that TikTok could be worth $1 trillion and that the US should be entitled to half of the company.
“So I think, like a joint venture, I think we would have a joint venture with the people from TikTok. We’ll see what happens,” Trump added, though he did not specify who TikTok could partner with.
According to the divest-or-ban law that the Senate passed in April, TikTok had to stop operating in the US on January 19 unless it divested itself from its Chinese-based owner, ByteDance.
The platform briefly went dark for US users on Saturday night but resumed its services on Sunday after Trump said he would pause the ban with an executive order.
“We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive,” TikTok said in a statement to Business Insider.
However, it is unclear if Trump’s executive order will keep TikTok going and prevent the ban altogether.
Under the divest-or-ban law, an extension can only be granted if the president certifies to Congress that “a path to executing a qualified divestiture has been identified” and “evidence of significant progress toward executing such qualified divestiture.”
Representatives for Trump and TikTok did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.
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