Microsoft is negotiating for TikTok acquisition, says Trump

According to President Donald Trump’s Monday announcement, Microsoft is negotiating to buy TikTok. Trump also welcomes a bidding war over the app.

The social platform TikTok, which serves 170 million users in the United States, went offline temporarily on January 19 before a regulating law came into force. North American national security regulations force TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to divest its ownership of the app or face an imminent operational ban. ByteDance revealed it was seeking a $200 billion valuation for the app.

Microsoft continues to push for TikTok acquisition

Trump was asked aboard Air Force One if Microsoft was in discussions to purchase TikTok and he responded, “I would say yes. A lot of interest in TikTok. There’s great interest in TikTok.”

“We’ll see what happens. We’re going to have a lot of people bidding on it, and if we can save all that voice and all the jobs, and China won’t be involved, we don’t want China involved, but we’ll see what happens.”

-Donald Trump, while addressing Republican lawmakers at his Doral resort in Miami.

According to a Reuters report , Microsoft has tried acquiring the Chinese platform previously as well. In Trump’s first term, President Trump voiced security concerns about TikTok and pushed for its American operations to become independent from ByteDance.

By 2020, Microsoft had positioned itself as the chief bidder to take over the video-making platform, yet it had failed to formulate a successful agreement. TikTok divestment talks reached no conclusion shortly before Donald Trump ended his presidential term.

Reflecting on the 2020 negotiations, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella described it as “the strangest thing I’ve ever worked on.” He later commented that the U.S. government had strict conditions for the deal that eventually “just disappeared.”

After his inauguration on Jan. 20, 2025, Trump signed an order postponing the ByteDance divestment rule for 75 days. ByteDance CEO Shou Zi Chew made a TikTok video where he thanked President Trump for his commitment to work with them to find a solution that will keep TikTok available in the U.S.

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters on Sunday that he interpreted Trump’s Truth Social post, ‘Save TikTok,’ as he’s going to try to force along a divestiture, changing of hands of TikTok. Johnson added that Congress was not concerned about the platform but the Chinese Communist Party and their manipulation of Tiktok’s algorithms. The speaker also argued that China had been flooding the minds of American children with terrible messages glorifying violence, antisemitism, suicide and eating disorders.

Trump plans to make decision for Tiktok acquisition within 30 days

Trump was asked if he was making a deal with Oracle and other investors to save TikTok, and he replied, “No, not with Oracle.” He added that there were numerous people he was talking with, “very substantial people,” about buying TikTok, and he would make that decision over the next 30 days. Trump revealed that Congress had given a 90-day period to finalize the deal, and “it would be a good thing” if he could save TikTok.

President Trump confirmed last week that he was discussing the app’s potential future with multiple parties and expected to reach a decision in the coming month. He also expressed his favor of Elon Musk acquiring it if he is interested. However, Musk has not commented on the offer.

According to insiders, AI startup Perplexity AI put forward a proposal to merge with TikTok last Sunday, which included the possibility of the U.S. government acquiring 50% ownership in the new entity. The proposal outlined the creation of a new U.S. holding company, NewCo, with TikTok’s parent company providing some of its operations. The idea also included a one-time dividend payment to ByteDance investors.

Reuters reported two people familiar with the matter revealed that a group of U.S. investors, including Oracle and possibly Microsoft, would take control of TikTok from ByteDance. TikTok’s Chinese parent company would retain a minority stake, while Oracle and Microsoft would oversee TikTok’s algorithm and data collection.

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