WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Monday he does not mind if Microsoft Corp buys the Chinese-owned short-video app TikTok, but any purchase by an American company would have to be done by a Sept 15 deadline.

The Republican president, who last week threatened to ban TikTok over national security concerns, said he had a great conversation with Microsoft’s chief executive and that it might be easier if Microsoft buys all of TikTok rather than 30pc.The president said that Chinese-owned hugely popular video-sharing app TikTok will be “out of business” in the United States if not sold to a US firm by Sept 15.

“I set a date of around Sept 15, at which point it’s going to be out of business in the United States,” he told reporters.

“It’ll close down on Sept 15th unless Microsoft or somebody else is able to buy it and work out a deal.”

Published in Dawn, August 4th, 2020