The TikTok short form video hosting service logo is seen on a mobile device in this illustration photo taken in Warsaw, Poland on 17 July, 2024.
Jaap Arriens | Nurphoto | Getty Images
President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he’d consider the possibility of Tesla CEO Elon Musk or Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison purchasing TikTok.
At a press briefing to announce a joint venture for investing in artificial intelligence infrastructure, Trump was asked by a reporter if he was open to “Elon buying TikTok.”
“I would be if he wanted to buy it, yes,” Trump said in response. “I’d like Larry to buy it, too.”
TikTok, which is owned by China’s ByteDance, is in a state of limbo in the U.S. after Trump signed an executive order on Monday to keep TikTok operating in the U.S. for 75 days. That order aims to suspend a ban that went into effect after the Supreme Court last week upheld the validity of a national security law that would penalize app stores and service providers for hosting TikTok unless ByteDance sold it.
Analysts have valued TikTok’s U.S. business at about $50 billion.
Trump said on Tuesday that TikTok would be “worthless” without a permit to operate in the U.S., but could be worth $1 trillion with one.
Musk, who is also CEO of SpaceX and owner of social media app X, was one of Trump’s top financial backers in the campaign and is positioned to wield major influence in the administration. Ellison is a longtime Trump supporter, and Oracle is TikTok’s cloud infrastructure provider in the U.S.
“What I’m thinking about saying to somebody is, buy it and give half to the United States of America,” Trump said. “And we’ll give you the permit.'”
Trump said ByteDance would have “the ultimate partner” in the U.S. which would “make it very worthwhile for them in terms of the permits and everything else.”
Trump’s views on TikTok have shifted radically since his first term. In 2020, Trump signed an executive order to ban the app. A federal court viewed his effort as “arbitrary and capricious,” and blocked him. He began to speak more favorably of TikTok after he met in February with billionaire Republican megadonor Jeff Yass, a major ByteDance investor who also owns a stake in the owner of Truth Social, Trump’s social media app.
TikTok CEO Shou Chew attended Trump’s inauguration in Washington, D.C., on Monday.
ByteDance has not indicated whether it will sell TikTok, but the Chinese government has reportedly considered a plan that would involve Musk acquiring the operations.
Musk didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Oracle and TikTok representatives also didn’t provide an immediate comment.
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