Donald Trump, the new US President is seeking to have US investors own at least 50 percent of TikTok, a Chinese-owned short-form video app
Speaking on the eve of his swearing-in, Trump told a rally in Washington that he would allow the app to continue operating in the US, “but let the United States of America own 50 percent of TikTok.”
“TikTok is worth nothing, zero without an approval,” to operate, Trump said.
“If you do approve, they’re worth like a trillion dollars, they’re worth some crazy number.
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“I’m approving on behalf of the United States, so they’ll have a partner, the United States, and they’ll have a lot of bidders and the United States will do what we call a joint venture,” Trump added.
The popular app blocked access for US-based users for about 12 hours on Sunday.
This was due to a new US law mandating TikTok either be sold by its current Chinese owners, ByteDance, or else be banned in the country, was set to come into force.
The app came back online after Trump said that he would issue an executive order reinstating the platform in the US.