‘I have the right to make a deal’: Trump suspends TikTok ban

TikTok remains in the United States for now, but its future remains uncertain.

President Donald Trump this week suspended the ban on the app and said he had “the right to make a deal” to try to save it. Legal experts question whether it can override a federal law that prohibits it. And the app’s parent company, based in China, seemed open to negotiating a deal.

Bill Ford, CEO of General Atlantic, member of the board of directors of TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, said it was “We are optimistic that we can find a solution,” Bloomberg reported Thursday.

“There are a number of alternatives that we can discuss with President Trump and his team, without selling the company that would allow the company to continue operating, perhaps with a change of control of some sort, but without having to sell,” Ford told Bloomberg Television.

Trump signed an executive order Monday that delays enforcement of the TikTok ban until April. The ban resulted from a law that required its sale to a non-Chinese company before January 19. TikTok briefly shut down in the United States as the deadline approached, but restarted after Trump pledged his support.

Trump later told reporters that he was looking for the U.S. government to strike a deal for 50% control of the app and would be open to Elon Musk or Oracle’s Larry Ellison doing so. buy. Trump said he thought the app was 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 seemed numbered after the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the federal law requiring its sale on January 17. The Court sided with the U.S. government, which argued that the app posed a national security risk because it could track and collect data on 170 million U.S. users.

Trump attempted to ban TikTok during his first term and find a U.S. buyer before losing his re-election bid.

He said last year that he was still concerned that TikTok carried security risks, but that young people would go “crazy” without it. After using it to court young voters, Trump said he found “a hot spot” for the app.

TikTok CEO Shou Chew attended Trump’s swearing-in, and the platform hosted an inauguration party in Washington featuring right-wing content creators.

“We thank President Trump for providing necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties in providing TikTok to more than 170 million Americans and enabling more than 7 million small businesses to thrive,” TikTok told Business Insider.