If US billionaire Elon Musk – now an adviser to United States President Donald Trump – wants to, he can buy the social media platform TikTok, Trump said at the White House on Tuesday.
The future of the app in the US has become uncertain in recent days, but if Musk feels like buying the platform from its Chinese parent company ByteDance, Trump will agree. "I would be open to it, if he wants to buy it," Trump told reporters on Tuesday.
The social media platform briefly went "dark" for its 170 million US users on Sunday after a law by the Biden administration to ban the app went into effect.
The law was passed due to fears in the US that China is misusing Americans' data, but Trump gave TikTok a reprieve on his first day in office – extending the popular app's operation in the US for 75 days.
Oracle
He earlier suggested that whoever buys over the app should "give half to the US" in exchange for a licence, adding that "every rich person" has called him about acquiring the platform.
Larry Ellison, the co-founder of software company Oracle, would also be allowed to buy the app, Trump said on Tuesday. The company provides data storage for TikTok.
Trump also threatened to impose high tariffs on Chinese goods if the government refused to allow a sale of TikTok.
Meanwhile, ByteDance has yet to comment on whether it plans to sell TikTok in the US, but Chinese officials have considered the option of selling to Musk, Bloomberg reports.
