NPR reports that the Trump administration is negotiating a deal for Oracle to acquire TikTok with a new US investor.
Lawmakers passed a bill last year that would have forced TikTok to either be sold to Chinese parent company ByteDance or banned in the U.S., but the app was temporarily suspended before the law took effect on Jan. 20. Things took a turn for the worse, until President-elect Donald Trump announced he would issue an executive order extending TikTok's delay. Prohibited.
At the time, President Trump also outlined his “initial thoughts” on a deal to save TikTok, calling it “a joint venture between the current owners and/or the new owners in which the U.S. would take 50% ownership.” ” was founded.
According to a report from NPR, a deal is currently being formed in which Oracle will take control of TikTok's global operations, with ByteDance retaining a minority stake.
Trump tried to force a sale of TikTok during his first term, and Oracle emerged as a potential buyer. Although that didn't happen, TikTok later announced that it had moved all of its traffic in the US to Oracle servers. And Trump said at a press conference on Tuesday that either X owner Elon Musk or Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison would be open to buying the app.
Meanwhile, some senators who supported the ban expressed confusion about Trump's plan, saying the law would require a complete divestment of ByteDance.