TRUMP TAGS TikTok A HOT BRAND, DEMANDED A CHUNK OF ITS SALE PRICE AS MICROSOFT EDGES CLOSE ON TikTok DEAL
Sudden drift emerges over the subject app as Trump tags TikTok “a hot brand” which appears to ease the huddles of Microsoft-TikTok deal, which could potentially pave way for a continuing talks over a possible transaction. However, this comes as ‘Donald Trump’ changed his tune over the weekend as regards the subject app – TikTok owned by Chinese-based ByteDance which owns a good number of apps and its services.
The phone call between the CEO of Microsoft ‘Satya Nadella’ and the U.S. President ‘Donald Trump’ over the weekend seems to have practically changed the mind of the American prime who had earlier vowed to use executive power to ban TikTok. The outcome of the call eventually led to the OS giant publicizing on Sunday that the company is pursuing a deal.
On Monday Trump endorsed a deal between the two private companies [Microsft-ByteDance] over TikTok and in the process expects a chunk of the sale price to wind up in the accounts of the U.S. government. It’s also understood, the U.S. has so far struggled with basic economic concepts, like, who pays tariffs. But to expect to see Trump receive a chunk of this deal, meant a lot.
The Wall Street Journal had earlier updated in its reports that the ByteDance and Microsoft deal was pitching in a bid to keep the subject app running as a U.S. company in the states is on hold. And this was as a result of Trump’s initial intent to ban TikTok. Should the deal go through! It will allow a different company besides the OS giant to operate TikTok in the U.S.
Trump tagging TikTok a hot brand seems evident, owing to that, ByteDance had also sought a deal that would allow the company to retain a minority stake that was recently abandoned due to the rejection of such proposal by the White House. However, to fully understand Trump’s explanation, here is the rundown of the weekend call between Trump and Microsoft’s CEO.
“We had a great conversation, uh, he called me, to see whether or not, uh, how I felt about it. And I 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 – buy it.
It’s probably easier to buy the whole thing than to buy 30% of it. ‘Cause I say how do you do 30%? Who’s going to get the name? The name is hot, the brand is hot. And who’s going to get the name? How do you do that if it’s owned by two different companies? So, my personal opinion was, you are probably better off buying the whole thing rather than buying 30% is complicated.
And, uh, I suggested that he can go ahead, he can try. We set a date, I set a date, of around September 15th, at which point it’s going to be out of business in the United States. But if somebody, whether it’s Microsoft or somebody else, buys it, that’ll be interesting.
I did say that if you buy it, whatever the price is, that goes to whoever owns it, because I guess it’s China, essentially, but more than anything else, I said a very substantial portion of that price is going to have to come into the Treasury of the United States. Because we’re making it possible for this deal to happen. Right now they don’t have any rights unless we give it to ‘em. So if we’re going to give them the rights, then it has to come into, it has to come into this country.
It’s a little bit like the landlord-tenant [relationship]. Uh, without a lease, the tenant has nothing. So they pay what is called “key money” or they pay something. But the United States should be reimbursed or should be paid a substantial amount of money because without the United States they don’t have anything, at least having to do with the 30%.
So, uh, I told him that. I think we are going to have, uh, maybe a deal is going to be made, it’s a great asset, it’s a great asset. But it’s not a great asset in the United States unless they have the approval of the United States.
So it’ll close down on September 15th, unless Microsoft or somebody else is able to buy it, and work out a deal, an appropriate deal, so the Treasury of the – really the Treasury, I suppose you would say, of the United States, gets a lot of money. A lot of money”.
As Trump tags TikTok “a hot brand” what’s your take?
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