Donald Trump says TikTok 'out of business' in US if not sold by around September 15

Washington, Aug 03: United States President Donald Trump said that TikTok will have to close its US operations by September 15 unless there's a deal to sell the social media network's American operations.

The White House has said it's concerned that TikTok's parent company, ByteDance Ltd., could be compelled to hand over American users' data to Beijing or use the app to influence the 165 million Americans, and more than 2 billion users globally, who have downloaded it.

There are reports that TikTok is going to pull out of the holding company, which is China, and operate as an independent American company, White House Economic Advisor Larry Kudlow told reporters here. When asked whether any American company would like to buy the Chinese firm, he said, "I don't want to speculate on that."

"That's really a market question, but I'm just saying that's a much better solution than banning," he said. The top White House economic advisor, responding to another question, said that the servers of TikTok, after becoming an American company, will be in the US and not in China.

A day earlier, the White House indicated that a decision on Chinese banning Chinese mobile applications, including TikTok, could be taken within weeks.

"I do not think there is any self-imposed deadline for action, but I think we are looking at weeks, not months," White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows told reporters aboard Air Force One, flying with President Donald Trump form Atlanta.