Just because Donald Trump reinstated TikTok doesn't mean the app is out of danger: In fact, it has 60 days left

If Donald Trump reinstated Tiktok on January 20, 2025 by decree, the Chinese application is still in danger in the United States. We explain.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Saturday he was in talks with multiple people about a TikTok acquisition, adding that he would likely make a decision on the app’s future within the next 30 days.

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“I've talked to a lot of people about TikTok and there's a lot of interest in TikTok,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on a flight to Florida.

Earlier in the day, Reuters reported that the Trump administration was working on a TikTok bailout that would involve bringing in software company Oracle, according to two sources familiar with the discussions. and a group of outside investors to effectively take control of the app's operations.

Under the deal brokered by the White House, TikTok’s China-based owner ByteDance would retain a stake in the company, but data collection and software updates would be overseen by Oracle, which already provides the backbone of TikTok’s internet infrastructure, one of the sources told Reuters.

In his comments to reporters, however, Trump said he had not spoken to Oracle co-founder and chairman Larry Ellison about buying the app.

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Asked if he was working on a deal with Oracle and other investors to save TikTok, Trump said: “No, not with Oracle. I have a lot of people talking to me — very important people — about buying it, and I'll make that decision probably in the next 30 days. Congress has given me 90 days. If we can save TikTok, I think that would be a good thing.”

The people said the terms of a potential deal with Oracle were subject to change. One source said the scope of the talks was still unclear and could include the company’s U.S. operations and other regions.

What about national security issues?

On Saturday, National Public Radio reported on talks for TikTok’s global operations, citing two people with knowledge of the negotiations. Oracle had no immediate comment.

The deal being negotiated includes participation from ByteDance’s existing U.S. investors, the people said. Susquehanna International Group, General Atlantic, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) and Sequoia Capital are among the company’s U.S. backers. Representatives for TikTok, ByteDance investors General Atlantic, KKR, Sequoia and Susquehanna could not immediately be reached for comment.

Other TikTok acquisition candidates, including the investor group led by billionaire Frank McCourt and another involving Jimmy Donaldson — better known as YouTube star Mr Beast — are not part of the Oracle negotiations, one of the people said.

Under the terms of the deal, Oracle would be responsible for national security matters. TikTok originally struck a deal with Oracle in 2022 to store U.S. user information to assuage Washington’s concerns about possible Chinese government interference.

TikTok’s management would remain in place to run the short-form video app, one of the people said. The app, used by 170 million Americans, was temporarily taken offline for users shortly before a law went into effect on January 19 that said it must be sold by ByteDance for national security reasons or face a ban.

After taking office a day later, Donald Trump signed an executive order to delay by 75 days the implementation of the law, which was put in place after US authorities warned that ByteDance risked misusing Americans’ data.