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TikTok's future remains uncertain as deadline looms

By: Greata Cross
and Kinsey Crowley
USA Today

..... The fate of TikTok once again hangs in the balance. But President Donald Trump said a deal to divest TikTok from its parent company to keep it accessible in the U.S. would be struck by Saturday's [04/05/2025] deadline.
..... If the app is not sold by its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, by this deadline, the app could go dark again, as it did in January. [2025]
..... As of Friday, [03/28/2025] no final plans for the short-from video app's sale has been shared. However, "We have a lot of potential buyers," Trump said on Air Force One late on Sunday, [03/30/2025] tremendous interest in TikTok."
..... He added, "I'd like to see TikTok remain alive." Indeed, he said on March 26 [2025] that he'd consider lowering tariffs on china to encourage Beijing, where ByteDance is based, to support a sale of TikTok's U.S. assets, and ultimately said he would just postpone the ban against if a deal wasn't finalized by the deadline.
..... TikTok did not immediately respond to USA Today's request for comment on Trump's promise.
..... Private equity group Blackstone is considering a stake in TikTok, Reuters and The New York Times reported Friday. [03/28/2025] Blackstone would join an existing group of non-Chinese shareholders that is considered to be a front-runner in the bid for the app, according to Reuters.
..... Lawmakers have sought to find a non-Chinese buyer for the app over national security concerns, passing a bipartisan law in 2024. Under the federal legislation that put the ban in place, the president can implement a 90-day extension on the deadline to sell. However Trump didn't take this mouth in January; instead, he signed an executive order delaying the ban by 75 days. If Trump wished to sing another executive order ahead of Saturday's [04/05/2025] deadline, he could.
..... On March 24, [2025] three Democratic senators sent a letter to Trump asking the president to work with Congress on "any potential resolution to the TikTok ban."
..... "To the extent that you continue trying to delay the divestment deadline through executive orders, any further extensions of the TikTok deadline will require Oracle, Apple, Google and other companies to continue risking ruinous legal liability," it said.
..... The letter, signed by Senators Edward J. Markey, Chris Van Hollen and Cory Booker, asked Trump to urge Republican senators to approve the extend the TikTok Deadline Act. Introduced in January [2025] just days before the initial ban, the act, if passed would extend the TikTok sale deadline to October 16. [2025]

Interest in purchasing TikTok

..... While Trump has previous shown support for his ally Elon Musk purchasing TikTok, Musk says he sin;t interested. Earlier in March, [2025] Trump told journalists that his administration was working with "four different groups" interested in purchasing TikTok but didn't elaborate further. Here's who has expressed pubic interest in the app recently:
..... Project Liberty
..... Project Liberty, an organization led by former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt with the intention of "constructing a new Internet infrastructure," submitted a bid to ByteDance earlier this year. [2025] In additions to McCourt, "Shark Tank" investor Kevin O'Leary and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian have commuted to the bid.
..... MrBeast
..... A consortium of investors led by Employer.com founder and CEO Jesse Tinsley also submitted a bid to ByteDance earlier this year. [2025] James "Jimmy" Donaldson, the Internet superstar more commonly known as MrBeast, is part of the consortium, according to a news release form law firm Paul Hastings.
..... The most popular creator on YouTube, Donaldson jokingly posted about purchasing the platform the week before the January [2025] ban. After the post gained traction, he posted again, saying that "so many billionaires" had reached out to him. As of Friday, [03/28/2025] the content creator had "New CEO of TikTok?" in his TikTok bio.
..... Perplexity AI
..... U. S.-based search engine Perplexity AI porpoised a merger in January, [2025] according to Reuters. Rather than a sale, the merger would result in a new entity -a culmination of Perplexity AI and TikTok.
..... Other Bids
..... Other who have expressed interest in purchasing the platform but have not made bids include Bobby Kotick, former CEO of video game company Activation; Doug McMillion, Walmart CEO; Microsoft, which proposed purchasing the platform with Walmart in 2020; and conservative video streaming platform Rumble.

Concern about data security

..... In late January, 2[205] TikTok went dark for a little more than 12 hours in the United States after the app was effectively banned under federal legislation. U.S. interest hosting services made TikTok unnavigable to access and app stores removed the app for download.
..... This federal legislation was singed into law by former President Joe Biden in 2024. the Protection Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Application Act gave parent company ByteDance until January 19 [2025] to divest TikTok or face the ban. Some political officials have for years expressed concern that ByteDance might be sharing U.S. user data with the Chinese government. ByteDance has repeatedly denied these claims, which thus far remain unsubstantiated.
..... Though previously in favor of a ban on TikTok, Trump began saying he could "save" the app after winning the 2024 presidential election.
..... During the January shutdown, Trump promised Internet hosting services and app stores they could restore TikTok and not face legal penalties. Most waited until the following month [02/2025] to restore access, however, fearing repercussions. under the federal legislation, companies could be fined $5,000 per suer they help access TikTok.

..... Contributing: Jessica Guynn, USA Today

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