Oh yeah, TikTok is still being sold off in the U.S., and still needs to find a U.S.-based partner before September 17th, or it’ll be expelled from the U.S.
Yes, despite President Trump claiming to have a deal in place, pending Chinese government approval, and despite Trump repeatedly extending the deadline for such a deal to come into effect, in line with the “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act,” TikTok is still operating in violation of U.S. law, and is technically already banned in the region.
Whether that actually happens remains to be seen (apparently unlikely while it maintains “a warm spot” in the president’s heart), but again, as of right this second, TikTok is operating in violation of Senate-approved law in the U.S., purely at the discretion of the President.
So what’s happening with that TikTok deal that Trump’s been talking about?
Well, seemingly, one of the major partners in that arrangement has now pulled out, with Reuters reporting that private equity firm Blackstone has withdrawn from the consortium that Trump had hoped to sell TikTok to.
As per Reuters:
“Blackstone had planned to take a minority stake in the TikTok U.S. business in a deal orchestrated by President Donald Trump. The consortium is led by Susquehanna International Group and General Atlantic, current investors in TikTok's Chinese owner ByteDance. The group had emerged as the front-runner to secure TikTok’s U.S. business in a deal under which U.S. investors would own 80% of TikTok, while ByteDance would retain a minority stake.”
That consortium also includes (or included) KKR, Andreessen Horowitz, and Oracle, forming a new “TikTok U.S.” subsidiary that would meet the requirements of all elements.
But that’s now potentially up in the air, and with just 59 days to finalize a sell-off under the latest extension, it could be difficult for the collective to re-group, and re-structure a workable solution,
Which means that TikTok’s future in the U.S. is once again in question, and the app could indeed still face a full ban in the nation.
The deal has also been soured by the Trump Administration’s ongoing trade negotiations, which recently saw Chinese goods hit with more tariffs.
Which is somewhat amazing to consider, that TikTok, which was an app that initially popularized childish dance clips, is now potentially a key chess piece in international trade negotiations.
We certainly live in interesting times.
So what comes next? Well, we don’t know, but if I had to guess, I’d suggest that Trump will be extending the TikTok sell-off deadline once again in nine weeks.
That won’t give TikTok creators the stability they need, but it will keep the app going in the U.S., for at least a little longer.
