Former U.S. President Donald Trump has indicated that Microsoft could purchase TikTok’s U.S. operations.
When asked by journalists if Microsoft was in talks to acquire TikTok, Trump responded, “Yes, there is genuine interest in TikTok.” He also stated that he wanted to see a bidding war for TikTok, as reported by the BBC.
Earlier, reports had surfaced about preliminary discussions between TikTok and an American company regarding its acquisition. At that time, it was speculated that Elon Musk might acquire TikTok.
Last week, Trump issued an executive order requiring TikTok to sell its shares to an American company within 75 days, warning that failure to do so would result in TikTok being banned.
The U.S. federal court had instructed TikTok to sell its parent company ByteDance’s shares by January 19. Consequently, on Sunday, TikTok stopped functioning on most American users’ phones. Before the government ban came into effect, TikTok had issued a notice rendering its application inactive in the U.S. However, after Trump adopted a slightly more lenient policy, TikTok thanked him and resumed its services.
It is estimated that TikTok has 170 million users in the United States.