Trump Says That Microsoft Is in Contention to Buy TikTok, but Is That True?

Love him or hate him, you have to acknowledge that Donald Trump has a more complicated relationship with the truth than your average person. As a result, you can't always simply take what the president says at face value.

That's why so many were confused when Trump mentioned that Microsoft could be in contention to purchase TikTok. Naturally, regular TikTok users want to know whether that claim is true, or whether there's any evidence to support it. Here's what we know.

Trump was asked by a reporter whether Microsoft was preparing a bid for TikTok.

"I would say yes," he answered, before adding that there was "great interest in TikTok" from several companies. Trump has said that he'd like to see a bidding war over the app.

When the BBC reached out to a spokesperson for Microsoft, the company said that they had "nothing to share at this time" regarding a potential purchase.

Trump made those remarks on Jan. 27, and earlier in the day, he addressed a gathering of Republican politicians in Florida, saying that he didn't know exactly how the TikTok sale would play out.

"We'll see what happens. We're going to have a lot of people bidding on it," Trump said. "If we can save all that voice and all the jobs, and China won't be involved, we don't want China involved, but we'll see what happens."

Microsoft was floated as one of the companies that might be interested in a potential purchase when the ban initially went into effect, but it's unclear how close they are to negotiating a final deal.

President Trump extended the deadline for the ban for 75 days, but the app is still not available in app stores, in part because it's unclear whether Trump's executive order carries legal weight.

Microsoft is just one of several parties that have expressed interest in purchasing the app at some point. MrBeast, Larry Ellison, Elon Musk, and Canadian businessman Kevin O'Leary have all discussed purchasing the app at one point or another.

A purchase will be necessary to stave off the ban indefinitely, as it's the only way under current law that TikTok can continue to operate in the U.S.

What's unclear is how close we actually are to a sale, and what happens if one is not forthcoming in the near future. TikTok was banned from the U.S. in large part because of concerns that the app would be giving data from its U.S. users to the Chinese government.

The company had months to put together a sale and failed to do so, instead hoping that the ban would be overturned. For now, then, the app is living in limbo, with many wondering whether it's doomed, or whether a sale will materialize before the ban has to go into effect. President Trump seems to be in that first camp, and seems optimistic that the U.S. portion of the company will find a buyer.