Aboard Air Force One/Washington (Reuters) — President Donald Trump stated that a deal with TikTok’s Chinese owners, ByteDance, to sell the short video app used by 170 million Americans will be reached before the deadline on Saturday.

In January, Trump set an April 5 deadline for TikTok to find a non-Chinese buyer or face a US ban on national security grounds, which was scheduled to take effect that month under a 2024 legislation.

“We have a lot of potential buyers,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One late Sunday. “There’s tremendous interest in Tiktok,” he commented. “I’d like to see Tiktok remain alive.”

TikTok did not immediately respond.

Blackstone is considering joining ByteDance’s current non-Chinese owners, led by Susquehanna International Group and General Atlantic, in providing new financing to bid for TikTok’s U.S. operations. The group has emerged as the frontrunners.

Washington claims TikTok’s ownership by ByteDance makes it subservient to the Chinese government, and Beijing may use the software to undertake influence operations against the US and gather data on Americans.

Trump earlier stated that he was open to extend the April deadline if an agreement on the social networking app could not be achieved.

Last week, he recognized China’s role in completing any agreement, including its ratification, adding, “Maybe I’ll give them a little tariff reduction or something to get it done.”

Vice President JD Vance has stated that the broad details of a deal regarding control of the social media site will be finalized by April 5.

The future of the program used by over half of all Americans has been uncertain since a 2024 legislation, approved with strong bipartisan support, ordered ByteDance to divest from TikTok by January 19.

The White House has been heavily involved in the carefully monitored transaction discussions, basically acting as an investment bank.

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