by Sharelle Burt
April 1, 2025
The Trump administration listed “four different groups” they are working with to potentially solidify a sale.
President Donald Trump says he expects a deal to be made to sell the popular video-sharing app TikTok before the April 5 deadline, The Hill reports.
After giving a 90-day extension following the original Jan. 19, 2025, deadline, Trump says there are some potential buyers. He expects a “deal” to be made prior to Congress enforcing a ban in the United States. “We’re working on TikTok,” the President said on Air Force One.
“We have a lot of potential buyers. There’s tremendous interest in TikTok.”
While admitting he doesn’t want TikTok to go anywhere, Trump mentioned China allegedly “having something to do with it.” “We’re dealing with China also on it because they may have something to do with it. And we’ll see how that goes,” he continued. “But it’s something I think you’re going to have. I’d like to see TikTok remain alive.”
Before leaving office, President Joe Biden signed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, giving TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, until January 2025 to sell the app. Supported by bipartisan Congress members, the bill pushed a narrative of national security concerns, claiming the company was sharing U.S. user data with the Chinese government, which ByteDance has repeatedly denied.
Influencers and fans of the app went into a frenzy when TikTok went dark for a few hours, just one day before Trump was sworn in as the 47th President. This caused a number of users to delete the app. However, after CEO Shou Zi Chew went on the app claiming the team was working with the new administration to work things out, the app has been functioning regularly.
According to USA Today, the Trump administration listed “four different groups” they are working with to potentially solidify a sale. Project Liberty, an organization led by former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, put in a bid, with support from “Shark Tank” investor Kevin O’Leary and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. Other bidders include James “Jimmy” Donaldson, known as internet celebrity “Mr. Beast,” former video game company CEO Bobby Kotick, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon, and Microsoft.
U.S.-based search engine Perplexity AI proposed a merger in January 2025 instead of a sale. The merger would result in a collaboration between the company and TikTok. Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison has been labeled as a top contender.
Cabinet members seemingly support Trump’s moves to save the app. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick says the President has been adamant about keeping his word. “It’s in Donald Trump’s hands. He is going to make the decision how he wants to play it,” Lutnick said.
“And you know Donald Trump. He wants to do it in the time frame that he was given.”
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