Microsoft in Talks to Purchase TikTok, According to President Trump

President Trump has indicated that Microsoft is in the running to acquire the US operations of ByteDance’s TikTok. While speaking to reporters, Trump has stated that he’d like to see a bidding war occur over the app.

As first reported by Reuters, neither Microsoft, ByteDance, nor TikTok has commented on the matter. The former, especially, has declined to comment.

Originally, the US Supreme Court ordered that TikTok’s US operations be divested from ByteDance otherwise a nationwide ban would be upheld by January 19th. While the app was shut down that day and removed from the App Store and Play Store (alongside other ByteDance-owned apps), the shutdown was short-lived. TikTok, CapCut and ByteDance’s apps began coming back online after 14 short hours. As President Trump came into office on January 20th, he ordered the US Attorney General not to enforce a crackdown for an additional 75 days, extending the window that ByteDance can wager a divestment.

Last week, Trump indicated that he’s had talks with multiple interested parties about the purchase of TikTok and within the next 30 days have an idea of what the app’s future will be in the US. According to previous reports, one of the companies looking into an acquisition is Oracle, alongside a group of outside investors.

Back in 2020, when Trump was adamant about a TikTok ban during his first presidential run, Microsoft was hosting conversations about acquiring TikTok. At the time, the deal would not only include a takeover of operations in the US market but possibly Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. However, while there were concerns over the security of US user data at the time, a ban was never implemented as Joe Biden stepped in as the 46th president in 2021.