US President Donald Trump said he will bar the short-video making platform, TikTok from the United States. Trump said that American authorities have raised concerns that the TikTok App could be a tool for Chinese intelligence.
Media reports revealed that Trump wants TikTok to divest its US operations from its Chinese parent company ByteDance, however, he is now in view to banning the application from the country. “We may be doing some other things. There are a couple of options. But a lot of things are happening, so we’ll see what happens. But we are looking at a lot of alternatives with respect to TikTok,” Donald Trump said.
Trump said that he would take the action as soon as Saturday using the emergency economic power or executive order. Trump’s move comes following a review by the Committee on Foreign Investment (CFIUS) in the United States, which investigates deals affecting US national security.
Meanwhile, it is reported that Microsoft is in advanced talks with TikTok to acquire latter US operations. As per a report by The Wall Street Journal, Microsoft is in advanced talks to acquire the US operations of TikTok. The deal is said to run into billions of dollars.
“A deal could be completed by Monday, according to people familiar with the matter, and the talks involve representatives from Microsoft, Bytedance and the White House. Talks are fluid, and a deal may not come together,” The Wall Street Journal reported.