President Donald Trump said Sunday he expects a resolution on TikTok’s future in the U.S. before the April 5 deadline, when its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, must either divest or face a ban.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump revealed strong interest from potential buyers and ongoing discussions with China.
“We have a lot of potential buyers. There’s tremendous interest in TikTok,” Trump said. “We’re dealing with China also on it, because they may have something to do with it. I’d like to see TikTok remain alive.”
The U.S. government has mandated TikTok’s separation from ByteDance over national security concerns, fearing potential Chinese surveillance or influence on American users. The law, enacted January 19, initially threatened an immediate ban, but Trump delayed enforcement, allowing negotiations to continue.
The president confirmed talks with four groups interested in acquiring the platform, which boasts 170 million U.S. users. When asked about extending the deadline, Trump responded, “There’ll be a deal with TikTok, I’m pretty certain.”
Notably, Trump—who once sought to ban the app—acknowledged its political influence, crediting it for his strong youth support in the 2020 election. “Selfishly speaking, I won the young vote by 36 points. Republicans generally don’t do very well with the young crowd, and I think a lot of it could have been TikTok,” he said.
