PRESIDENT Donald Trump has said he is open to the possibility of Elon Musk buying TikTok.
Trump, who signed an executive order delaying the federal ban on TikTok for 75 days just hours into his second term, called the popular video-sharing platform “worthless without a license” from the United States.
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While answering questions after Tuesday’s announcement of the $500 billion Stargate AI infrastructure project, Trump was asked if he would be willing to let Musk buy TikTok.
“I would be, yes,” Trump said.
“I met with the owners of TikTok, the big owners, there’s no point if he doesn’t get a permit,” Trump continued.
“It’s not like we can take the United States. It’s all worthless. With a permit, it’s worth about a trillion dollars.
“So what I think I would say to someone is buy it and give half of it to the United States of America and we will give you a permit and they will have a great partner, the United States United.”
Musk bought X, formerly Twitter, in 2022 for around $44 billion.
But Trump also said he was open to Oracle CEO Larry Ellison buying TikTok.
“I wish Larry would buy it,” Trump told reporters.
“Let’s negotiate in front of the media, Larry,” he joked.
Ellison was on hand for the Stargate announcement, alongside SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son and OpenAI’s Sam Altman.
The trio of leaders are expected to spend around $500 billion on the Stargate project over the next four years.
“What we want to do is keep it in this country,” Trump said of building the artificial intelligence infrastructure.
“China is a competitor, others are competitors. We want to be present in this country and we make it accessible.”
Stargate’s announcement comes just days after TikTok’s China-based parent company, ByteDance, failed to find a buyer before a January 19 deadline.
As a result, the wildly popular app remained in the dark for almost a day.
The app came back online a few hours later with a message from TikTok thanking Trump.
“We thank President Trump for providing necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will not face any penalties in providing TikTok to more than 170 million Americans and enabling more than 7 million small businesses to thrive,” the company said.
“We will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States.”
The relationship between former President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk got off to a rocky start, but the two have since reconciled, with Musk fully supporting Trump and interviewing him on X Spaces on August 12.
In 2022, Elon Musk and Donald Trump publicly argued on X, then still known as Twitter.
Trump called Musk a liar and a “bullshit artist” at a rally in Alaska.
“Elon is not going to buy Twitter,” Trump said at the time.
“You know, he said the other day, ‘I’ve never voted for a Republican.’ I said, “I didn’t know that, you told me you voted for me, so he’s another bullshit artist, but he’s not going to buy it.”
In response to Trump’s criticism, the SpaceX founder responded.
“I don’t hate the man, but it’s time for Trump to hang up his hat and sail off into the sunset,” Musk said.
Musk also bought X months later.
The owner of
Musk initially supported Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as the Republican Party’s nominee for president.
“My preference for 2024 presidency is someone sensible and centrist,” Musk wrote on X in 2022.
“I had hoped this would be the case for the Biden administration, but I have been disappointed so far.”
His change of political party could be attributed to his plummeting relationship with President Joe Biden, who did not invite Musk to the 2021 White House electric vehicle summit.
Despite their past issues, Trump and Musk’s relationship took a turn in March after they met at Mar-a-Lago.
Trump was also previously against electric vehicles, but has since changed his position.
“I’m for electric cars,” he said at a rally earlier this month.
“I have to be, because Elon has been very supportive of me. So I have no choice.”
Following the assassination attempt at Trump’s rally in July, Musk announced his support for the former president.
“I fully support President Trump and hope for his speedy recovery,” Musk wrote on X after the shooting.
At a recent press conference, Trump praised Musk.
“I respect Elon a lot. He respects me,” he said.
“Elon, more than anyone I know, he loves this country. He loves the concept of this country, but like me, he says this country is in great trouble, it’s in great danger.”
Musk has been photographed at events at Mar-a-Lago and the UFC, along with Trump.
Trump chose Musk to lead the Department of Government Efficiency – a task force aimed at cutting red tape.
Trump even invited TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew to attend his inauguration on Monday.
Upon returning to the White House, Trump quickly signed an executive order to keep the app operational for 75 days until a buyer was found.
“The order will also confirm that there will be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before my order,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
The president argued that the United States should own 50 percent of the popular app after his inauguration.
“If I make the deal for the United States, then I think we should get half of it,” Trump said Monday.
“In other words, wait, I think the United States should be entitled to half of TikTok.
“And congratulations, TikTok has a good partner, and it would be worth, you know, $500 billion or something.”
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