US President Donald Trump on Monday insisted that US companies must have “total control” over TikTok or he will not approve the deal with Oracle and Walmart to buy the social media app from China-based ByteDance.
So far, business software company Oracle and mega-retailer Walmart have agreed to take a 20-per-cent stake in a new TikTok company, which would be separated from ByteDance, before it goes to an initial public offering on the market.
“If we find they don’t have total control we won’t approve the deal,” Trump said on TV programme Fox and Friends on Monday. He also added that “there can be zero security risk.”
The initial push against TikTok, and its forcible sale to a US company, came as the White House argued that users’ data on the social media platform was vulnerable and could be harvested by the Chinese government.
It is unclear if the new deal totally eliminates China’s involvement.
Furthermore, Trump declared that there would be a 5-billion-dollar education fund created by the new company, though details of this remain murky.
Trump told broadcaster Fox that the new company would be based in Texas and create 25,000 jobs.
The White House forced TikTok’s hand via an executive order in August, which effectively offered the choice of being banned in the US as soon as this week or being sold to US companies.
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