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President Donald Trump said China would approve a deal to sell TikTok to an American buyer “in 15 minutes” if he “gave a little cut in tariffs.”
Trump made the remark on Air Force One following a report from Reuters that the U.S. was close to making a deal with the Chinese-owned TikTok to spin off its U.S. operations into a new company owned by American investors, but the Chinese government wouldn’t agree to it, citing the Trump administration’s new tariffs.
“I would say it is largely true. The report is that we had a deal pretty much for TikTok. Not a deal, but pretty close. And then China changed the deal because of tariffs,” Trump said Sunday. “If I gave a little cut in tariffs they would approve that deal in 15 minutes, which shows you the power of tariffs, right?”
Reuters reported that the deal had been approved by investors, the U.S. government and Chinese-owned ByteDance, TikTok’s owner. ByteDance would keep a minority stake in TikTok under the deal.
TRUMP THREATENS TO ADD 50% TARIFFS ON CHINA IF RETALIATORY TARIFFS NOT DROPPED
President Donald Trump displays a signed executive order imposing tariffs on imported goods during an event at the White House on April 2. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images / Getty Images)
Trump on Friday had extended a deadline for ByteDance to sell the app to an American buyer or have the platform shut down in the U.S.
“My Administration has been working very hard on a Deal to SAVE TIKTOK, and we have made tremendous progress. The Deal requires more work to ensure all necessary approvals are signed, which is why I am signing an Executive Order to keep TikTok up and running for an additional 75 days,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Shortly after taking office, Trump signed an executive order giving ByteDance an April 5 deadline to divest TikTok to an American buyer or shut down the platform.
TRUMP EXTENDS TIKTOK SALE DEADLINE 75 MORE DAYS
TikTok was temporarily removed from U.S. app stores in January this year. (Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto via Getty Images / Getty Images)
In April 2024, Congress passed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which gave TikTok nine months to either divest from ByteDance or be removed from U.S.-based app stores and hosting services.
The app — which the Trump administration says is used by 170 million Americans — was temporarily removed in January, as no deal was reached.
President Donald Trump holds up a chart of “reciprocal tariffs” while speaking at the White House on April 2 in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images / Getty Images)
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Trump, on his first day in office, then issued an executive order granting TikTok more time to operate and work toward compliance with the law.
FOX Business’ Alexandra Koch, Patrick Ward, Brie Stimson and Reuters contributed to this report.
