TikTok Faces U.S. Deadline as Trump Says Buyer Deal Is ‘Very Close’

TikTok is once again at the center of a high-stakes political and business standoff, as it faces a U.S. deadline to find a non-Chinese owner or risk being banned from the country.

With more than 170 million American users, TikTok must separate from its Chinese parent company ByteDance under a U.S. law passed last year, citing national security concerns.

Lawmakers in Washington fear that the Chinese government could access user data through the app’s parent company—a claim TikTok has consistently denied.

The law officially went into effect on January 19, just one day before President Donald Trump returned to office for his second term. In response, TikTok briefly went offline and vanished from app stores in the U.S., alarming millions of users.

Trump Delays Ban, Pushes for a Sale

President Trump quickly announced a 75-day delay, restoring access to the app in February. That grace period is now set to expire at midnight on April 5, but Trump has remained confident that a deal will be reached.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, the president said a resolution was “very close” and that “multiple investors” were involved. Though he did not name any of them, reports suggest companies like Oracle and Blackstone are part of the negotiations.

Trump also hinted that TikTok could play a role in broader trade talks with China, especially as he considers easing some of the tariffs he imposed on Beijing.

“The tariffs give us great power to negotiate,” he said, suggesting TikTok could be used as a bargaining chip.

What Could the Deal Look Like?

The most likely solution would involve U.S. investors in ByteDance rolling their current stakes into a newly independent, global version of TikTok.

Additional American investors would be brought in to reduce the Chinese ownership share.

Oracle, already hosting much of TikTok’s U.S. data, is considered a key player in the deal. The company’s chairman, Larry Ellison, is a well-known Trump ally.

However, questions remain about what would happen to TikTok’s valuable algorithm—the technology that powers its personalized content feed.

Reports suggest ByteDance could license the algorithm to the new company, but that idea may go against the spirit of the law, which aims to remove Chinese influence entirely.

Other Bidders and Late-Stage Interest

Several other buyers have reportedly entered the mix. Tech giant Amazon made a last-minute bid, while real estate investor Frank McCourt has proposed a public-interest version of TikTok under his Project Liberty initiative.

Artificial intelligence startup Perplexity and YouTube personality MrBeast have also shown interest in acquiring or co-owning the platform.

Though Trump once supported a full ban on TikTok, he has recently changed his tone. He now credits the app’s popularity with helping him gain more support from young voters in the 2024 election.

Adding to the political twist, Jeff Yass, a major Trump donor and investor in ByteDance, has financial ties to the company—raising further questions about how politics and business are influencing the negotiations.

For now, the clock is ticking. Unless a deal is finalized by the April 5 deadline, TikTok could once again face a ban in the U.S.—a move with major consequences for users, creators, and investors alike.