Trump: I am open to Elon Musk buying TikTok

Former President Donald Trump expressed openness to Elon Musk purchasing TikTok and proposed that the United States acquire a 50% stake in the company.

“If he wanted to buy it, yes, I’d be open to that,” Trump said during a White House event on Tuesday, where he announced a new private-sector partnership focused on AI infrastructure with tech leaders, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son.

Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, emerged as a potential buyer just days before TikTok faced a shutdown deadline. On Monday, Trump issued an executive order pausing enforcement of a ban on the popular video app for 75 days.

During the AI-focused event in the White House’s Roosevelt Room, Trump commented on TikTok’s brief shutdown, which occurred for about 12 hours on Saturday evening. The shutdown followed a Supreme Court decision upholding a law requiring TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to sell its U.S. operations to continue operating in the country.

Trump also mentioned being open to another major tech player acquiring TikTok: Larry Ellison, Oracle’s co-founder. Ellison was present for the announcement of a $500 billion AI infrastructure partnership involving the Trump administration, OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle. Oracle currently manages the majority of TikTok’s U.S. servers.

“I have the authority to make a deal,” Trump told Ellison. “Let’s negotiate right here, in front of the media.”

After meeting with TikTok’s owners, Trump revealed that he suggested a company should purchase TikTok and transfer 50% ownership to the U.S. government. He emphasized this idea again on Monday, highlighting TikTok’s 170 million American users as a significant factor.