UNITED STATES–President Donald Trump noted on Saturday, September 19, that he agreed to a deal that will allow the video-sharing app TikTok to continue its operation in the United States by collaborating with Walmart and Oracle.
The deal will create a new TikTok Global entity and set the headquarters in the United States with four Americans out of the five-member Board of Directors. Trump said the deal includes a $5 billion fund for the education of American youth.
“Conceptually, I think it’s a great deal for America. They’ll be hiring at least 25,000 people,” President Trump told reporters at The White House. “I have given the deal my blessing — if they get it done that’s great, if they don’t that’s okay too. I approved the deal in concept.”
The U.S. Department of Commerce said it would delay the ban of U.S. transactions with TikTok which was scheduled to take effect on Sunday, September 20.
The ban was postponed by one week, until Sunday, September 27, but could be delayed again or removed in the near future if the new proposal goes well.
Oracle will purchase a 12.5 percent stake and become TikTok’s secure cloud provider. American TikTok users’ information will be moved to Oracle’s Generation 2 Cloud data centers.
“We believe this deal will benefit the U.S. in many ways, including bringing over 25,000 jobs over time as well as continuing to develop exciting, innovative products for people to enjoy around the world,” Walmart stated.
The company agreed to purchase a 7.5 percent stake, and its CEO Doug McMillon would serve as one of five board members of the newly created company.
“With this agreement, TikTok Global will able to continue to provide a hundred million Americans with access to the social network they love, and spark much needed competition in the market for social networks,” Oracle and Walmart announced in a joint statement.
