President Donald Trump told reporters on Sunday that an agreement to sell TikTok's U.S. operations to a non-Chinese buyer is expected to be finalized before the April 5 deadline.
The Details: President Trump set the Saturday deadline for a sale in January under a 2024 law requiring ByteDance, TikTok's Chinese parent company, to divest the app or face a ban over national security concerns.
Speaking to reporters on Air Force One late Sunday, Trump expressed his desire to "see TikTok remain alive."
"We have a lot of potential buyers," Trump said, adding, "There's tremendous interest in TikTok."
Potential Buyers: Private equity firm Blackstone, Inc. (NYSE: BX) is reportedly considering a small minority investment in TikTok, according to Reuters. The firm would join a group of existing investors led by Susquehanna International Group and General Atlantic with plans to spin off TikTok's U.S. operations into a separate entity.
Other potential buyers include a group led by Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL), TikTok's U.S. data partner, and Project Liberty, a group led by Frank McCourt that includes Kevin O'Leary from "Shark Tank" and Reddit (NYSE: RDDT) co-founder Alexis Ohanian.
What Else: Last week, Trump said he was open to reducing tariffs on China as part of the negotiation to transfer TikTok's ownership to a U.S. buyer before the deadline.
"With respect to TikTok, and China is going to have to play a role in that, possibly in the form of an approval, maybe, and I think they'll do that," Trump said. "Maybe I'll give them a little reduction in tariffs or something to get it done."