United States President Donald Trump gave popular Chinese-owned video app TikTok six weeks to sell its US operations to an American company, saying Monday it would be “out of business” otherwise, and that the government wanted a financial benefit from the deal.
But US officials say the app constitutes a national security risk because it could share millions of Americans’ personal data with Chinese intelligence.“I set a date of around September 15, at which point it’s going to be out of business in the United States,” he said. “TikTok is a big success, but a big portion of it is in the country,” he said. “I think it’s very fair.”
Trump has made TikTok the latest front in the ongoing political and trade battles between Washington and Beijing. “The most obvious beneficiaries are Snapchat, Facebook and Twitter, with Snapchat likely being the biggest beneficiary,” said investment analysts at Lightshed Partners. However, he said, the company faces “mounting complexities across the geopolitical landscape and significant external pressure.”