Trump, a former New York real estate developer, compared TikTok to the landlord-tenant relationship, suggesting TikTok is like a tenant. "Without a lease, the tenant has nothing - so they pay what's called key money or they pay something."
He said he did not mind "whether it’s Microsoft or somebody else – a big company, a secure company, very, very American company buy it."
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Microsoft said Sunday that CEO Satya Nadella had spoken to Trump and "is prepared to continue discussions to explore a purchase of TikTok in the United States."
Microsoft said Sunday it is "committed to acquiring TikTok subject to a complete security review and providing proper economic benefits to the United States, including the United States Treasury."
Many prominent Republicans, including House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, issued statements in support of a Microsoft acquisition of TikTok's U.S. operations. Some congressional aides are worried about a backlash by younger voters against the party if Trump banned TikTok, which has 100 million American users.
Microsoft and TikTok parent ByteDance gave the U.S. government a notice of intent to explore a preliminary proposal for Microsoft to purchase the TikTok service in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
U.S. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer also backed the sale, while a senior White House adviser raised concerns about a sale to Microsoft.
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"A U.S. company should buy TikTok so everyone can keep using it and your data is safe," Schumer said on Twitter, adding: "This is about privacy. With TikTok in China, it's subject to Chinese Communist Party laws that may require handing over data to their government."
White House trade adviser Peter Navarro suggested on Monday that Microsoft could divest its holdings in China if it were to buy TikTok.
"So the question is, is Microsoft going to be compromised?" Navarro said in an interview with CNN. "Maybe Microsoft could divest its Chinese holdings?"
Navarro said the Chinese government and military use Microsoft software “to do all the things they do.”
