• TikTok US may be sold, with MrBeast and others in the mix as buyers.
• Trump says buyers are ready – but China must agree.

President Trump says a group of wealthy individuals may be preparing a bid to take over TikTok’s US operations. In a recent interview with Fox News, he said, “I think I’ll probably need China approval, I think President Xi will probably do it.”

The short video app has been under pressure since last year, when the US government ordered it to find a new American owner or face a ban. Lawmakers argued that Americans’ personal data could end up in the hands of the Chinese government. TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, has repeatedly denied this.

The original deadline to secure a buyer was January 19. When that day came, many users were alarmed when the app briefly went offline before returning hours later. Since then, Trump has extended the deadline several times. The most recent extension came on June 19, when he signed an executive order pushing it back to September 17.

Who could buy TikTok?

Trump’s latest comments suggest the new owner might not be a single company, but a group of individuals. Several names have surfaced – some more surprising than others.

YouTuber MrBeast, real name Jimmy Donaldson, publicly offered to buy TikTok on January 14. What started as a joke turned more serious when, according to Donaldson, multiple billionaires contacted him to discuss making the bid happen. He later posted clips from meeting rooms and filmed himself on a private jet claiming he was about to submit an official offer. “I might become you guys’ new CEO,” he said.

Tech investor Kevin O’Leary – known from Shark Tank, the US version of Dragons’ Den – also made a bid. He’s part of a group calling themselves The People’s Bid for TikTok. The group includes internet pioneer Tim Berners-Lee and reportedly submitted an offer just one day before the US Supreme Court upheld a law that bans the app.

Their offer didn’t include TikTok’s algorithm. Instead, they proposed rebuilding the platform using American-made technology. That approach raised concerns, since the app’s popularity depends heavily on the Chinese-built recommendation system.

Meanwhile, US startup Perplexity AI is said to have made a separate bid. The company reportedly wants to merge with TikTok US while allowing ByteDance’s existing investors to keep their shares. In return, Perplexity would gain access to TikTok’s video content for use in its AI model.

Elon Musk has also been mentioned in passing, although he hasn’t made any public comments. Bloomberg reported that Chinese officials may be open to approving a deal if Musk is involved. TikTok denied that rumour, saying it wouldn’t respond to “pure fiction.” But Musk has extensive business ties in China and, if involved, could potentially align better with both Beijing and Washington. As head of Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, Musk also has influence in the administration.

China’s role and what comes next

ByteDance said in April that talks with the US government were ongoing, but major disagreements remain. Any sale would likely need approval from Chinese authorities. So far, Beijing hasn’t signalled whether it would support a transfer of ownership.

Even if a buyer steps forward, it’s unclear whether the Chinese government would allow the algorithm or other core technology to be included. Without that, any new version of TikTok may struggle to keep users engaged.

Tariff talks heat up

In the same Fox News interview, Trump also discussed trade policy. On April 9, he paused tariffs of over 10% on some imports for 90 days. That grace period ends on July 9.

According to the president, some deals have already been reached – including one with the UK. For other countries, letters will soon go out stating what new tariffs they’ll face.

Trump said each country will be judged on its trade balance with the US and how fairly it treats American businesses. “Some countries, we don’t care – we’ll just send a high number out,” he said. “We don’t have to meet. We have all the numbers.”

He framed the new tariffs as a way to correct what he called unfair trade practices, particularly in industries like car manufacturing.