On the eve of the deadline, Trump says he is « very close » to an agreement for the resale of Tiktok – Liberation

After months of negotiations, Tiktok finally found buyers on American soil? This is suggested by Donald Trump on Thursday, April 3, saying to be « Very close » an agreement with a « Very good group » of investors, during an exchange with journalists aboard the plane taking him to Florida. This announcement occurs just before the deadline imposed by the United States government for the Chinese video platform to find a new owner, under penalty of ban.

The fate of Tiktok and its 170 million users in the United States had been sealed by A law passed in the congress in 2024 : The text aimed to avoid any risk of operating by the Chinese authorities of personal data from American users of the social network and to protect public opinion from possible attempts at handling.

The deadline had initially been set for January 20, but Donald Trump, who took over the file on his own, had pushed him back from seventy-five days upon taking office, leaving the parent company of the platform, Bytedance, until April 5 to give in his subsidiary. The president has already suggested that he was ready, if necessary, to repel the deadline if any agreement was reached.

The US head of state, who has just declare a trade war to the worldplace the discussion concerning Tiktok in the context of wider economic negotiation with China. « Regarding Tiktok, China will certainly give the green light to an agreement to come and negotiate on customs duties », said Trump, who has just announced customs duties up to 54 % on Chinese goods.

According to the New York Times, The Amazon giant submitted a Last minute buyout offer on the entire Tiktok, which would not be considered very serious.

To date, Bytedance has still not officially accepted the principle of a transferno more than the Chinese government. But, according to several American media, discussions are underway, with the central scenario the Tiktok split of his parent company. As part of this operation, the shareholders of Bytedance, 60 % controlled by foreign investors, would then be entrusted with actions of this new entity up to their current participation in the Chinese giant.

Some newcomers could acquire a minority participation on this occasion: the name of the Oracle distance computer specialist, who hosts Tiktok servers in the United States, circulates with insistent. Several other contenders are also in the ranks, including the artificial intelligence start-up Perplexity AI or the Liberty Project worn by the owner of Olympique de Marseille, Frank McCourt.

In 2020, at the end of his first mandate, Donald Trump himself sought, in vain, to ban Tiktok in the United States. He changed his mind during his last campaign, defending the application, very popular with young people. “Egoist speaking, I won the 36 -point young people vote. Republicans generally do not do as well with young people and I think it could largely be due to Tiktok. ”