President Donald Trump said Sunday that a group of wealthy American investors is ready to buy TikTok’s U.S. operations, and that the deal now awaits approval from the Chinese government.
Speaking on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo, Trump revealed that he will disclose the identities of the investors in the coming weeks.
“We have a buyer for TikTok, by the way,” Trump said. “I think I’ll need probably China’s approval. I think President Xi will probably do it.”
The announcement comes as TikTok faces a looming September 17 deadline under the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (PAFACA). The act mandates that China-based ByteDance divest TikTok’s U.S. business or face a nationwide ban.
TikTok briefly went offline in the U.S. earlier this year ahead of an earlier deadline but was reinstated after Trump issued a temporary extension. This marks the third such extension since the Supreme Court upheld the law just before Trump’s second inauguration in January.
While Trump has criticized China on trade and national security, he has also acknowledged TikTok’s role in helping him connect with younger voters during the 2024 campaign. He has expressed support for keeping the platform active under U.S. ownership.
A previous attempt to separate TikTok’s U.S. operations into a new company was shelved in April after Beijing signaled it would block the deal, following Trump’s announcement of major tariffs on Chinese imports. That plan would have allowed ByteDance to retain a minority stake.
Trump’s earlier proposals included the possibility of American investors buying the platform and selling a 50% share to the U.S. government, though legal experts say any final deal will have to comply with PAFACA and may still face challenges.
Potential buyers reportedly include familiar Trump-world figures, such as Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, as well as tech firms like AppLovin and Perplexity AI. However, ByteDance’s willingness to sell remains unclear, and any transaction will almost certainly require approval from Chinese regulators.
Trump expressed confidence that Chinese President Xi Jinping would allow the deal to proceed. “I think President Xi will probably do it,” he said.