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TikTok is staying in the U.S. for now, but its future remains uncertain.
President Donald Trump this week paused a ban on the app and said he has “the right to make a deal” to try to save it. Legal experts questioned whether he can override a federal law that bans it. And the app’s China-based parent company appeared open to brokering an agreement.
General Atlantic CEO Bill Ford, a board member of TikTok’s parent company ByteDance, said he is “optimistic we will find a solution,” Bloomberg reported Thursday.
“There are a number of alternatives we can talk to President Trump and his team about that are short of selling the company that allow the company to continue to operate, maybe with a change of control of some kind, but short of having to sell,” Ford told Bloomberg Television.
Trump signed an executive order on Monday that delays enforcement of a TikTok ban until April. The ban resulted from a law that required its sale to a non-Chinese company by Jan. 19. TikTok briefly shut down in the U.S. as the deadline approached but restarted after Trump pledged his support.
Trump later told reporters he’s looking to have the U.S. government broker a deal for 50% control of the app, and would be open to Elon Musk or Oracle’s Larry Ellison purchasing it. Trump said he believes the app is worth $1 trillion.
“Give half to the United States of America and we’ll give you the permit,” Trump said, calling the platform “worthless” without a permit.
TikTok’s days had appeared numbered after the Supreme Court on Jan. 17 unanimously upheld the federal law requiring its sale. The Court sided with the U.S. government, which argued the app poses a national security risk because it can track and collect data on 170 million American users.
Trump tried to ban TikTok during his first term and find an American buyer before he lost his reelection bid.
He said last year that he still had concerns TikTok carries security risks, but that young people would go “crazy” without it. After using it to court younger voters, Trump said he had found “a warm spot” for the app.
TikTok CEO Shou Chew attended Trump’s swearing-in, and the platform hosted an inauguration party in Washington that featured right-wing content creators.
“We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive,” TikTok told Business Insider.
