Trump says Oracle deal for TikTok ‘has my blessing’

US President Donald Trump has approved a deal that would allow TikTok to continue its operations in the US.

He said to the reporters that he had granted his “blessing” to a deal between TikTok and US firms Oracle and Walmart.

Mr. Trump said on Saturday that the deal would make sure the data of the estimated 100 million Americans who use the app was safe, telling reporters: “The security will be 100%.”

“I have given the deal my blessing,” Mr. Trump said as he left the White House ahead of an election rally in North Carolina. “I approve the deal in concept.”

TikTok’s owner company ByteDance has not commented on the proposed deal yet.

What is the proposed deal?

Reuters news agency reported that the proposed deal would involve the establishment of a new company, dubbed TikTok Global. That company would have a majority of American directors, a US chief executive, and a security expert on the board.

According to BBC, Oracle and Walmart are expected to take significant stakes in the company, and ByteDance has agreed to security safeguards on the data of US users. TikTok’s data would be stored by Oracle, which would have the right to inspect its source code.

President Trump said the new TikTok company will be “totally controlled by Oracle and Walmart”. The deal would provide new jobs and tax revenue for the country, he assured.

US to ban download of WeChat and TikTok For National Security

The United States (US) government has earlier announced a series of shutdowns on Chinese applications WeChat and TikTok.

Initially, in August this year, two different executive orders were issued to shut down WeChat and TikTok.

Donald Trump’s orders suggested that TikTok sell its US shares to a US company within 45 days, otherwise, it would be shut down.

Similarly, WeChat was told to sell its US assets to a US technology company within 45 days, otherwise, it would be shut down.