U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that he would ban the popular video app TikTok by Sept. 15 unless U.S company Microsoft acquires it before then.
The Republican president said last week that he would ban the app, which is owned by Chinese company Bytedance, because of security concerns.
Trump said Monday he would not mind if Microsoft Corp. acquired the app, but that the purchase would have to be completed by Sept. 15.
Saying he doesn't mind if @Microsoft buys @tiktok_us, @POTUS adds that any purchase by an American company would have to be done by a Sept. 15 deadline "at which point it's going to be out of business in the United States."
— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) August 3, 2020
In a statement, Microsoft confirmed that its CEO had met with Trump and was committed to acquiring the company by the stated deadline.
“Microsoft will move quickly to pursue discussions with TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, in a matter of weeks, and in any event completing these discussions no later than September 15, 2020. During this process, Microsoft looks forward to continuing dialogue with the United States Government, including with the President,” the statement read.