Trump says TikTok deal is still 'on the table'

10/4/2025 6:11

President Donald Trump

on Wednesday said a potential deal to spin off the U.S. assets

of TikTok is still "on the table" days after it was put on hold.



Several U.S. Senators have criticized the proposed deal,

but Trump defended it.



"We have a deal with some very good people, some very rich

companies that would do a great job with it, but we're going to

have to wait and see what's going to happen with China," Trump

told reporters in the Oval Office. "It's on the table, very

much."



Trump on Friday extended the deadline for China-based

ByteDance to divest the U.S. assets of the short video app used

by 170 million Americans, or face a ban. The deal must be

reached by June 19, the date when the ban would take effect.



Trump has twice granted a reprieve from enforcement of

the ban, which was originally set to take effect in January.



The deal would spin off TikTok's U.S. operations into a

new company based in the U.S. and majority-owned and operated by

U.S. investors. The plan entails spinning off a U.S. entity for

TikTok and diluting Chinese ownership, sources have told

Reuters.



Democratic Senators Mark Warner and Ed Markey said Trump

had no legal authority to extend the deadline. Warner also said

the reported likely deal



under consideration would not meet legal



requirements.



On Wednesday, Markey sought to pass legislation to

extend the deadline until October but was blocked.



Senate Intelligence Committee chair Tom Cotton on

Wednesday noted many American investors want to buy TikTok but

warned they must cut all ties with China.



"These potential buyers may ask Congress to somehow

indemnify them for violating the law or immunize them for

TikTok's past crimes against and injuries to the American

people," Cotton said. "To any American who wants to invest in

some half-assed TikTok deal, Congress will never protect you

from going into business with Communist China."



TikTok did not immediately comment.



A major stumbling block to any deal for TikTok's U.S.

business is Chinese government approval.



One source close to ByteDance's U.S. investors said work

on the prospective deal continues ahead of the June 19 deadline,

but the White House and Beijing will need to resolve the tariff

dispute first.



The law required TikTok to stop operating by January 19

unless ByteDance had completed a divestiture of the app's U.S.

assets. Trump began his second term as president on January 20

and opted not to enforce it.



The Justice Department in January told Apple

and Google that it would not enforce the law, which

led them to restore the app for new downloads.