Following a report by NPR that said the Trump administration is working on a deal with Oracle and other investors to take over TikTok in the US, Trump has denied any talks with Oracle but says he has “spoken to many people about TikTok” and may make a decision in the next month, according to Reuters. Trump signed an executive order shortly after taking office on Monday that delays the enforcement of the TikTok ban by 75 days, giving the app’s parent company ByteDance more time to figure out a deal that would allow it to continue US operations.
NPR, citing sources “with direct knowledge of the talks,” originally reported that Oracle met with White House officials on Friday to discuss a deal in which Oracle and other American investors would end up with a majority stake in TikTok and oversee things like data collection. Microsoft has also been involved with the talks, according to NPR. “The goal is for Oracle to effectively monitor and provide oversight with what is going on with TikTok,” an unnamed source told NPR. “ByteDance wouldn’t completely go away, but it would minimize Chinese ownership.”
When asked about a potential deal with Oracle by reporters during an Air Force One flight Saturday night, though, Trump said, per Reuters, “No, not with Oracle. Numerous people are talking to me, very substantial people, about buying it and I will make that decision probably over the next 30 days.”
Prior to the ban going into effect on January 19, ByteDance pushed back against the idea of selling TikTok to appease US lawmakers. But it changed its tune on Sunday after Trump stepped in to temporarily bring the app back online, issuing a statement on TikTok’s X account saying that the company “will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States.”
It came a few hours after Trump wrote in a Truth Social post during the short-lived TikTok blackout that he “would like the United States to have a 50% ownership position in a joint venture.” Still, his exact plan remains unclear. According to one of the sources that spoke with NPR, “Nobody seems to know what he means with the 50 percent equity comments.”
