Is Donald Trump Buying TikTok? Inside the Talks That Could Change Everything
President Donald Trump has expressed interest in saving TikTok from being banned — would he go as far as buying it to save it?
Published Jan. 16 2025, 1:48 p.m. ET
Jan. 19, 2025 (better known as doomsday) has TikTok users in full-blown panic mode. The platform that got people through the COVID lockdowns, delivers news faster than traditional media, and even helps some pay their bills, is in danger. There is a U.S. ban on the table. Unless something changes, TikTok may disappear for millions of American users.
Naturally, this has resulted in the users of TikTok looking for a hero to save everyone. First, there were rumors Elon Musk would swoop in and save the platform. Next, there was talk of Dolly Parton stepping up to the plate. Chatter on TikTok has even proposed MrBeast as a potential hero.
A shocking new name entered the conversation: Is Donald Trump buying TikTok? Could this be just another rumor born from wishful thinking or could President Trump be the hero TikTok users have been waiting for?
So, is President Donald Trump buying TikTok?
Unfortunately, President Trump isn’t personally buying TikTok. That, however, doesn’t mean he’s not invested in trying to save it. First, let’s rewind a little and look at President Trump’s history when it comes to TikTok.
Turns out, President Trump was one of the first people to push the TikTok ban back in 2020. At the time, his administration argued that the app’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, posed a national security threat. Years later, in 2025, President Trump is singing a different tune. He has openly admitted that he believes TikTok is largely responsible for why he appealed to the younger generation during the elections. So, he’s now seeing the platform in a new light.
Where did the idea that he would buy TikTok come from?
According to Newsweek, the rumor that President Trump might be TikTok didn’t just come from wishful thinking. There was a viral post on X (formerly Twitter) featuring a screenshot that looked to be a statement from President Trump's verified X account. The statement claimed that President Trump was planning to buy TikTok.
“Big announcement: I will be purchasing TikTok on Jan. 14 for $2.7 billion. Incredible platform, tremendous potential. Under my leadership, it will be bigger and better than ever before! Stay tuned.”
The reason this post gained so much traction and had people believing it was true is because it certainly sounded like President Trump wrote it with phrases like “tremendous potential” and “bigger and better than ever.”
However, the idea that President Trump is buying TikTok has been debunked as fake news. The screenshot in the post was not real and President Trump never posted anything about buying TikTok on his X account.
President Trump is reportedly trying to save TikTok.
While President Trump doesn’t have any plans to buy TikTok, he is trying to save it. According to The Washington Post, President Trump is looking into signing an executive order to delay the ban of TikTok. If successful, the executive order would delay the ban for 60 to 90 days. President Trump’s apparent hope is that the delay would allow him to take office and find a solution that stops TikTok from being banned in the U.S.