President Trump late Friday said that the U.S. “pretty much has a deal” for an American company to acquire the U.S. branch of TikTok, adding that he intended to restart talks next week with China to approve the deal.
“We’re going to start Monday or Tuesday talking to China,” Mr. Trump told reporters traveling on Air Force One on Friday night as headed to Bedminster, N.J. “We think we probably have to get it approved by China. Not definitely, but probably.”
He added, “I think the deal is good for China, and it’s good for us. It’s money, it’s a lot of money.”
Mr. Trump did not say who the potential buyer was. The president said earlier in the week that he had found a buyer for the U.S. branch of TikTok, the popular Chinese-owned video app that faces a ban adopted by Congress over national security concerns. A 2024 law required that the app effectively be banned in the United States unless its parent company, ByteDance, sold it to a non-Chinese company. Congress was concerned that sensitive user data could end up in the hands of the Chinese government.
It was not clear if the deal would comply with some of the requirements Congress adopted for a sale of TikTok, particularly if ByteDance chose not to share the app’s algorithm with the U.S. buyers. Private equity firms have been hesitant to invest in a deal without some form of indemnification.
Mr. Trump has declined to enforce the law banning the app, which was passed by large bipartisan majorities and unanimously upheld by the Supreme Court. Shortly after being sworn in, Mr. Trump issued an executive order directing the Justice Department to suspend enforcement of the TikTok ban and has since repeatedly extended it. Pam Bondi, the attorney general, has told tech companies that Mr. Trump has the constitutional power to effectively set aside laws.
Chris Cameron is a Times reporter covering Washington, focusing on breaking news and the Trump administration.
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