President Trump will discuss with his top aides a possible sale of TikTok’s U.S. operations — which faces a ban on Saturday if the app’s parent company, Beijing-based ByteDance, does not strike a deal before then — two people familiar with the plans told the New York Times.
The meeting involving the consideration of a proposal for a non-Chinese buyer for TikTok will reportedly include Vice President JD Vance — who President Trump tasked with finding an arrangement to save the app in February — along with other top officials, the sources added.
While the identity of potential buyers remains unclear, one could include the private equity firm, Blackstone, and tech giant Oracle, people familiar with the talks told the Times.
Blackstone has also been recently mentioned to Reuters by sources who said the private equity giant is looking into making a small minority investment in TikTok’s U.S. entity.
In addition to Blackstone and Oracle, Shark Tank host Kevin O’Leary and Project Liberty founder Frank McCourt filed a joint proposal to buy TikTok in January, as well as YouTuber MrBeast and Employer.com founder Jesse Tinsley, who also joined in on a bid around the same time, according to a report by Axios.
The artificial intelligence engine Perplexity, meanwhile, released a vision for the app on March 21, “which includes building a transparent algorithm, enhancing trust and adding more AI functionality,” the outlet added.
On Sunday, President Trump told reporters on Air Force One that a deal for TikTok’s U.S. division would likely arrive before Saturday’s deadline.
In January, on Trump’s first day in his second term in office, the president issued an executive order offering a 75-day reprieve on the initial TikTok ban that had been enacted due to ByteDance’s failure to sell the app before the original January 19 deadline.
A sale of TikTok’s U.S. operations to a non-Chinese buyer is crucial, as U.S. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have expressed concerns regarding a national security risk — among other issues — involving the app, given that TikTok’s parent company is beholden to the Chinese Communist Party.
Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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