Olusegun Ariyo
President Donald Trump has said he would extend the June 19 deadline for China-based ByteDance to divest the United States assets of TikTok, the short video app used by 170 million Americans, if no deal had been reached by then.
“I would … I would like to see it done,” Trump told the NBC News program ‘Meet the Press with Kristen Welker’ in an interview taped on Friday and aired across the US on Sunday.
Trump said he had a “sweet spot” for TikTok after the app helped him win over young voters during last year’s US presidential election.
According to him, “TikTok is – it’s very interesting, but it will be protected”.
In April, Trump extended the deadline for the sale by two months and 15 days, in a bid to find a non-Chinese buyer.
But a potential deal to sell TikTok was scuttled because of Trump’s tariffs on China.
Trump, however, told NBC there may not be a need for another reprieve.
