US President Donald Trump mentioned on Tuesday he was open to billionaire Elon Musk shopping for social media app TikTok if the Tesla CEO wished to take action.
The quick video app utilized by 170 million Individuals was taken offline briefly for customers shortly earlier than a legislation that mentioned it should be offered by its Chinese language proprietor ByteDance on nationwide safety grounds, or be banned, took impact on Sunday.
Bloomberg Information reported final week that Chinese language officers had been in preliminary talks a couple of potential choice to promote TikTok’s operations within the US to Musk, although the corporate has denied that.
Trump on Monday signed an govt order searching for to delay by 75 days the enforcement of the legislation that was put in place after US officers warned that below Chinese language mum or dad firm ByteDance, there was a danger of Individuals’ knowledge being misused.
TikTok remained unavailable to obtain on Apple and Android gadgets within the US on Tuesday afternoon.
“I might be, if he wished to purchase it,” Trump instructed reporters on Tuesday when requested if he was open to Musk shopping for the platform. “I’ve met with homeowners of TikTok, the massive homeowners. So, what I’m interested by saying to any individual is ‘purchase it and provides half to the US of America’.”
Free speech advocates have opposed TikTok’s ban below a legislation handed by the US congress and signed by former President Joe Biden.
‘Unbalanced’
The corporate says US officers misstated its ties to China, arguing its content material advice engine and person knowledge are saved within the US on cloud servers operated by Oracle, whereas content material moderation selections that have an effect on American customers are additionally made within the US.
Musk, who spent greater than US$250-million to assist Trump win November’s presidential election, has mentioned there was an “unbalanced” enterprise setting between the US and China.
Learn: Elon Musk secures White Home e-mail deal with
“I’ve been towards a TikTok ban for a very long time, as a result of it goes towards freedom of speech. That mentioned, the present state of affairs the place TikTok is allowed to function in America, however X will not be allowed to function in China is unbalanced,” Musk, who owns social media platform X, mentioned over the weekend. — Steve Holland and Kanishka Singh, (c) 2025 Reuters
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