The TikTok short video hosting service logo is seen on a mobile device in this illustrated photo taken on July 17, 2024 in Warsaw, Poland.
Yap Arians | Noor Photos | Getty Images
President Donald Trump On Tuesday he said he would consider the following possibilities Tesla CEO Musk or Oracle President Larry Ellison Buy TikTok.
At a press conference announcing the establishment of a joint venture to invest in artificial intelligence infrastructure, Trump was asked by reporters whether he would be open to “Elon acquiring TikTok.”
“If he wants to buy it, I’ll buy it, yes,” Trump responded. “I want Larry to buy it too.”
TikTok, owned by China’s ByteDance, is in trouble in the United States after Trump signed an executive order on Monday to allow TikTok to operate in the United States for 75 days. This order is intended to suspend the The Supreme Court upheld the verdict last week The effectiveness of the national security law would penalize app stores and service providers that host TikTok unless ByteDance sells it.
Analysts have valuable TikTok’s U.S. business is about $50 billion.
Trump said on Tuesday that TikTok would be “worthless” without a license to operate in the United States, but that if it did, it could be worth $1 trillion.
Musk, who is also the CEO of SpaceX and owner of the social media app Ellison is a long-time supporter of Trump, and Oracle is TikTok’s cloud infrastructure provider in the United States.
“What I would say to someone is, buy it and donate half of it to the United States of America,” Trump said. “We’ll give you a license.”
Trump said ByteDance will have the “ultimate partner” in the United States, which “makes it very worthwhile for them in terms of licenses and everything else.”
Trump’s views on TikTok have fundamentally shifted since his first term. In 2020, Trump signed an executive order banning the app. A federal court deemed his efforts “arbitrary and capricious” and blocked him. He started raving about TikTok. Met in February Teaming up with billionaire Republican megadonor Jeff Yass, a major investor in ByteDance who also owns a stake in the company truth societyTrump’s social media app.
TikTok CEO Shou Chew attended Trump’s inauguration in Washington, D.C., on Monday.
ByteDance has not said whether it will sell TikTok, but the Chinese government reportedly considered The plan would involve Musk acquiring businesses.
Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Representatives for Oracle and TikTok also had no immediate comment.
watch: President Trump discusses investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure
