Updated 12:33 IST, September 19th 2020
Trump anticipates quick settlement for TikTok deal, says it 'may come shortly'
US President Trump had earlier flagged security clearance in the Oracle-TikTok agreement, citing concerns about ByteDance’s major stakes.
On September 18, US President Donald Trump anticipated a “quick settlement” on the TikTok deal that mandates the Chinese owned company ByteDance to sell video app’s operations to the US-based firm. US President Trump had earlier flagged security clearance in the Oracle-TikTok agreement, citing concerns about ByteDance’s major stakes. At a press conference, Trump said that any agreement to continue operating in the US must be a100 percent, as he questioned Chinese tech firm ByteDance’s majority shares in the deal.
However, in a recent press address, Donald Trump said that the deal “may come shortly” as some of the “great companies” were talking to the US about it. Further, speaking with the reporters, Trump said that the United States has total security from China and his administration would not jeopardize that security. While Oracle would typically host TikTok's data and its code for security, the arrangement with ByteDance in hold over the majority of stakes was largely contentious to President Trump. Furthermore, he asked the company to file for an initial public offering in about 12 months to be listed on the US stock exchange, according to local US media reports.
Yesterday, my colleagues and I wrote to @realDonaldTrump about concerns regarding a deal between Oracle Corp. & ByteDance to become a “trusted technology provider” for @tiktok_us.
— Rick Scott (@SenRickScott) September 17, 2020
There are still many unanswered questions about the security risks & the Chinese gov't’s role. https://t.co/0oPnmK2dqS
Reports say @tiktok_us has reached a deal with an American company. I’m urging the Trump Administration NOT to approve it unless it involves a clean break w/ @BytedanceTalk & total separation from #Beijing pic.twitter.com/Ciz5UovsYK
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) September 14, 2020
Approached Instagram's Systrom
Meanwhile, reports of Walmart as the minority investor and e-commerce partner have also emerged, according to the NBC news agency’s report on the board structure. A separate New York Time’s sources said that TikTok approached Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom to assume the position of a CEO with the company. This comes in the backdrop of chief Kevin Mayer’s resignation over Trump’s executive orders last month. While the “ new arrangement” is obscure yet, Trump at a White House press briefing said that it may have an approval provided ByteDance didn’t hold majority stakes. “I don't like that,” Trump said in a press conference, adding, that he wasn’t “happy” with the arrangement that let ByteDance be the main stakeholder. However, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, and Attorney General William Barr sounded support for the new deal.
Today I sent a letter on #TikTok to @stevenmnuchin1 urging the administration to take all deliberate action necessary to protect Americans and American interests, and that includes rejecting any deal between Oracle & ByteDance that fails to address US national security concerns. pic.twitter.com/7qogWj2p6C
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) September 16, 2020
Published 12:33 IST, September 19th 2020