In a Fox News interview aired on Sunday, former US President Donald Trump revealed that he has secured a buyer for TikTok — a group he described as “very wealthy people.” He added that their identities would be disclosed in about two weeks.
Speaking on the program, Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo, Trump noted that the deal would likely require approval from China, expressing confidence that Chinese President Xi Jinping would grant it.
“We have a buyer for TikTok, by the way,” Trump said during the interview. “I think I will need probably China’s approval. I think President Xi will probably do it.”
Earlier this month, Trump extended the deadline for TikTok’s China-based parent company, ByteDance, to sell its US assets until September 17. This comes despite a 2024 US law mandating a sale or shutdown of the app if significant progress is not made.
A deal had previously been negotiated in the spring to spin off TikTok’s US operations into a new, US-based company majority-owned by American investors. However, that plan stalled after China pushed back, especially following Trump’s imposition of steep tariffs on Chinese imports.
The 2024 legislation gave ByteDance until January 19 to divest TikTok’s US operations or risk a nationwide ban. Trump, who claims the app helped him gain popularity among younger voters in the 2024 election, has already extended the deadline three times.
