US President Donald Trump announced during a press conference at the White House on Saturday that he was behind the draft plan of a deal between Oracle and TikTok owner ByteDance. earlier this week, Trump said he did not think the deal could go through. Due to the deal, the ban on downloading the app, which would take effect on Sunday, has been postponed by a week.
TikTok must come into the hands of an American company by the US government, because the White House believes that the originally Chinese app endangers the national security of the US.
The American company Oracle announced Monday that a proposal for a deal with ByteDance had been sent to the US government. Trump said on Wednesday that he had not yet read the proposal, but that he did not think the deal would meet the requirements.
However, Trump is now backing the deal, which should make it possible for TikTok to continue working in the US.
ByteDance had to close a deal with an American company before Sunday. Should that fail, Trump threatened to ban the app altogether. In that case, American app stores should no longer be able to offer TikTok. In the night from Saturday to Sunday (Dutch time), the US Department of Commerce announced that the ban was postponed by one week due to “positive developments”.
Trump: ‘Questions about security answered’
According to the US president, Oracle has answered all concerns about US national security and the deal will create 25,000 additional jobs. “Security will be 100 percent. The draft plan would be a fantastic deal for the US,” Trump said.
As part of the deal, a new company is due to take over TikTok’s duties in the US. According to Trump, this company will be wholly owned by Oracle and the American supermarket chain Walmart.
The Chinese government has yet to agree to the deal.
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