President Donald Trump has agreed to allow Microsoft Corp. to negotiate the acquisition of short video app TikTok if they can secure a deal in 45 days.
Per a report from Reuters, the statement was made on Sunday, August 2, 2020, and it comes following President Trump announcing on Friday that he was planning to ban TikTok from the United States amid concerns it constitutes a threat to the nation’s national security.
The US leader’s planned ban prompted tech giant Microsoft to declare its interest in the social media app in a move that could worsen the US-China relations.
The proposed acquisition of TikTok (which boasts 100 million users) would offer Microsoft a rare opportunity to become a major competitor to social media companies like Facebook and Snapchat.
Trump had dismissed the idea of a sale to Microsoft this past weekend but after a discussion between him and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, the company had said that it would continue negotiations to but TikTok from ByteDance, and its aim was to secure the deal by September 15, 2020.
President Trump’s change of heart results from pressure from some of his advisers a banning TikTok would likely trigger a wave of legal challenges. Based on this, several Republican lawmakers released statements in the last two days urging Trump back a sale of TikTok to Microsoft.
