President Donald Trump revealed on Monday that Microsoft is among the companies considering a bid for TikTok.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump confirmed Microsoft’s interest when asked about ongoing discussions. “I would say yes,” he said, while adding that multiple companies have expressed interest. He did not specify any other potential buyers but welcomed the idea of a competitive bidding process.
“I like bidding wars because you make your best deal. So if there’s a bidding war, that’s a good thing,” he told reporters.
The revelation comes as TikTok remains under scrutiny due to concerns about national security and data privacy.
The platform was briefly shut down on January 19 before being reinstated the next day after Trump signed an executive order pausing the enforcement of a federal law requiring TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to divest its U.S. assets.
The 75-day pause, Trump explained, allows his administration to determine a course of action that protects national security while avoiding an abrupt disruption for American users.
This is not the first time Microsoft has been involved in a potential TikTok deal.
During Trump’s first term in 2020, the company entered discussions to acquire the app after the former president issued an executive order demanding ByteDance divest its U.S. operations.
However, the deal eventually collapsed, with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella later calling it the “strangest thing” he had ever worked on. By the time Trump left office in January 2021, no sale had taken place.
Trump has since suggested that any future deal should include the U.S. government taking a 50 percent stake in TikTok, arguing that such an arrangement would ensure American oversight and provide benefits to the country.
“So what I am thinking about saying to somebody is, ‘Buy it and give half to the United States of America, and we’ll give you the permit,’ and they’ll have a great partner,” Trump explained.
While Microsoft’s renewed interest in TikTok has now been confirmed, other potential buyers remain in the mix.
Trump has previously mentioned Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison as possible suitors. YouTuber Jimmy Donaldson, known as MrBeast, has also claimed to have teamed up with a group of billionaires in an attempt to acquire the app.
ByteDance has not publicly stated whether it will proceed with a sale. Meanwhile, China’s foreign ministry has suggested that the ruling regime may not oppose such a deal, a stance that remains subject to change.
TikTok has long been at the center of U.S. national security debates, with concerns that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could gain access to American user data through ByteDance.
Under China’s counterespionage law, companies based in the country are legally required to hand over data upon request. ByteDance has repeatedly denied sharing U.S. user information with the CCP, but skepticism remains.
For now, the fate of TikTok in the United States remains uncertain.