U.S. President Donald Trump Says He’s Open to Elon Musk Buying TikTok
U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed his openness to allowing Tesla CEO Elon Musk to purchase social media app TikTok, which was taken offline temporarily on Sunday due to a national security law that requires it to be sold to a U.S. company or banned.
The law, which came into effect on Sunday, requires ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok, to sell its U.S. operations or shut down the app entirely. Trump has agreed to delay the enforcement of the law for 75 days, citing concerns over the potential misuse of Americans’ data.
Trump met with owners of TikTok in the past and expressed his willingness to allow Musk to purchase the platform, stating, “I would be, if he wanted to buy it.” Trump also suggested that Musk could give half of the platform to the United States.
TikTok has argued that its content recommendation engine and user data are stored on cloud servers operated by Oracle, while content moderation decisions that affect American users are made in the United States. Free speech advocates have opposed the ban, claiming that it goes against the principles of freedom of speech.
Musk, who has spent over $250 million to support Trump’s presidential campaign, has also expressed his opposition to the ban, stating that it creates an “unbalanced” business environment between the U.S. and China. Musk’s social media platform, X, is not allowed to operate in China, while TikTok is allowed to operate in the U.S. without restrictions.
