Microsoft Pauses Talks to Buy TikTok After Trump Suggests Total US Ban (Report)

Microsoft has paused its negotiations to acquire TikTok’s U.S. operations after President Donald Trump said he opposed the deal and threatened to ban the social media platform from operating inside the United States, according to The Wall Street Journal. After Trump’s remarks, TikTok tried to make additional concessions, which included adding as many as 10,000 jobs in the United States over the next three years. The founder of TikTok parent company Bytedance, Zhang Yiming, agreed to sell his stake as part of any deal. Reuters reported on Saturday that Bytedance offered to divest its U.S. operations of TikTok completely in hopes of saving the business from being banned by Trump.