Trump proposes 50% US ownership of TikTok: 'We're going to have a lot of bidders'
WASHINGTON — Just hours after a brief shutdown of TikTok across the nation, President-elect Donald Trump proposed to let the United States own half of the popular social media platform to satisfy a law requiring the Chinese-owned app to divest its U.S. operations.
Trump said he decided to rescue TikTok because the platform, used by 170 million Americans, helped him reach young voters, has a "tremendous" audience, and the cessation of its operations in the U.S. would cost Americans jobs.
"We have no choice. We have to save a lot of jobs," Trump said at a rally on Sunday ahead of his inauguration. "We don't want to give our business to China. We don't want to give our business to other people."
He told the crowd at a Capital One Arena rally that Congress gave the president the right to make a deal and "do whatever he wants" to fulfill the law requirements that went into effect on Sunday. Congress ordered TikTok to divest from ByteDance or face a ban over national security concerns.
"So I said, very simply, a joint venture," Trump told the crowd. "So if TikTok is worth nothing, zero without an approved, you know, you don't approve, they're out of business."
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This way, he said, the company would retain its value. "I'll approve, but let the United States of America own 50% of TikTok," he added. "We're going to have a lot of bidders. The United States will do what we call a joint venture."
Trump said the U.S. government would not be putting up any money, it would be providing approval for the agreement.
"So I don't know. It sounds like that works. What do you think, good?" he asked. "So whether you like TikTok or not, we're gonna make a lot of money."
Earlier in the day, Trump said that he would sign an executive order when he returns to the White House on Monday afternoon that would give TikTok the ability to operate in the U.S. without going into detail. Last week, the Supreme Court upheld the bipartisan law that President Joe Biden signed and declined to enforce or intervene to halt as it kicked in.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump proposes the US own 50% of TikTok to save the social media app