Trump says Chinese-owned TikTok will be banned by Sept. 15 without a US buyer

President Trump announced on Monday that Chinese-owned TikTok would “close down” in the United States by Sept. 15 unless Microsoft or another U.S. company works out a deal approved by his administration to buy the video-sharing social media platform.

Trump recounted to reporters his “great conversation” with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, claiming he said, “Look, it can’t be controlled, for security reasons, by China. Too big, too invasive, and it can’t be. And here’s the deal, I don’t mind if, whether it’s Microsoft or somebody else, a big company — a secure company, a very American company — buys it.” Trump noted that Microsoft was looking to buy what he called roughly 30% of TikTok’s operations, which the president said could be complicated due to the naming rights for TikTok if it is split and owned by two different companies.

Microsoft said Sunday night that the U.S. company would continue exploring the purchase of TikTok’s operations in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and, if the purchase happens, it vowed to "ensure that all private data of TikTok’s American users is transferred to and remains in the United States."

Trump said he told Microsoft’s CEO that “he can go ahead and he can try,” but “I set a date of around Sept. 15, at which point it’s going to be out of business in the United States.”