Trump Seeks TikTok Payment to U.S., Despite No Clear Authority

Trump says either China or a U.S. buyer would have to pay
‘That’s the way I think,’ Trump says of the fee he’s demanding

Watch: President Donald Trump said TikTok will have to close in the U.S. by Sept. 15 -- unless there’s a deal to sell the social network’s domestic operations to Microsoft Corp. or another U.S. company.(Source: Bloomberg)

Provide news feedback or report an error

Confidential tip?

Send a tip to our reporters

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

By Justin Sink

August 3, 2020 at 11:31 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

President Donald Trump repeatedly insisted on Monday that any sale of TikTok’s U.S. operations would have to include a substantial payment to the U.S. -- but it wasn’t clear under what authority he can extract a payout.

It would be unprecedented, based on recent history, for the U.S. government to collect a cut of a transaction involving companies in which it doesn’t hold a stake. Trump said the money would come from China or an American buyer such as Microsoft Corp.