President Donald Trump said on Monday evening that Microsoft is among the US companies looking to take control of TikTok to help the popular app avoid a potential ban set to take effect in April.
“I would say yes,” Trump told reporters when asked if Microsoft was one of the companies interested in acquiring TikTok, a move required by Congress to keep the app operating in the US.
Trump also noted that other companies were interested in purchasing TikTok, but declined to provide a list.
“I like bidding wars because you make your best deals,” Trump said while speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One as he flew from Miami, where Republican House members were holding a conference, back to Washington.
Representatives for Microsoft and TikTok did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Last week, in one of his first actions in office, Trump extended the deadline for TikTok to secure new ownership that meets government requirements, pushing it back by 75 days, from January 19 to April 4.
The president has stated that he is looking for the eventual purchaser to give the US a 50 per cent stake in the company, which is owned by China-based ByteDance. However, details remain unclear, including whether Trump envisions the US government or another US entity controlling the app.
Last week, the artificial intelligence startup Perplexity AI presented a new proposal to ByteDance that would allow the US government to own up to 50 per cent of a new entity merging Perplexity with TikTok's US operations, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Several other investors, including billionaire Frank McCourt and Trump’s former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, have publicly expressed interest in purchasing TikTok’s US platform. Trump has also said he has spoken privately to “many people” about the company.
After a bipartisan law was signed by former President Joe Biden in April, ByteDance stated it had no plans to sell the platform and challenged the statute in court for months. China also rebuked Washington over the push for divestment, although it appears to be softening its stance more recently.
In media interviews last week, Bill Ford, chairman of the global investment firm General Atlantic and a ByteDance board member, said the company is prepared to engage with both the Trump administration and Chinese officials to find a solution that ensures TikTok remains available. He also suggested that a solution short of a full divestiture by ByteDance could be reached.
Lawmakers and officials from both parties have raised national security concerns about Chinese ownership and the potential for manipulation of the immensely popular platform, which has over 170 million US users.
Trump, who initially supported a TikTok ban, reversed his stance last year, crediting the platform with helping him win more young voters in the recent presidential election.
Microsoft, alongside Walmart, made a failed bid for TikTok during Trump’s first term after he sought to ban the app. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella later described it as the “strangest thing I've ever worked on.”
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