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TikTok US operations being eyed by four different groups for purchase

Donald Trump says his administration has spoken with said groups about the purchase of TikTok in the US to keep it from being banned.

TJ Denzer

March 12, 2025 10:02 AM

Image via TikTok

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Through the end of the Biden presidency and well into Donald Trump’s latest presidency, the matter of TikTok operating in the United States has hung overhead as the government has tossed around a ban if Chinese parent company ByteDance didn’t sell off its US business. Now, Donald Trump claims that four major groups are in talks to close a deal on US ownership of TikTok.

Trump made this claim aboard Air Force One this last weekend, as reported by Reuters. During a discussion with press, Trump shared that his administration had been speaking with four major groups to buy the currently Chinese-owned social media platform.

“We're dealing with four different groups, and a lot of people want it ... all four are good,” Trump told the press. When asked if we could see a deal on TikTok close in the near future, he followed up with “it could.”

TikTok has been a political football in the United States for a while now. It was back in 2022 that the FCC advised a full-on ban of the platform in the United States, alleging that its unsolicited scraping of user data and Chinese ownership make it a threat to American citizens. It has since gone through a wealth of debate and congressional hearings, with President Joe Biden signing a bill that it be banned in the US if ByteDance didn’t sell off its North American business operations. In fact, TikTok did go offline for a short time along with many of ByteDance’s other properties, but quickly came back with a message supporting Donald Trump in a bizarre string of events.

TikTok’s global popularity as a social platform has continued to make it a topic of politics, but with Trump claiming a sale is on the horizon, it will be interesting to see if a deal goes through. Stay tuned to the TikTok topic for more news and updates.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on BlueSky @JohnnyChugs.