President Trump says he approved “in concept” a deal to allow TikTok to continue operating in the United States, in which it would partner with Oracle and Walmart to become a U.S.-based company.
“I have given the deal my blessing. If they get it done that’s OK too, if they don’t that’s fine too,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Saturday, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The U.S. Department of Commerce previously announced that through Trump’s executive order, downloads of TikTok and WeChat, another Chinese-owned company, would be blocked in the U.S., declaring them a national security threat. He had demanded that the company be sold to a U.S. based company or be shut down.
“We are pleased that the proposal by TikTok, Oracle, and Walmart will resolve the security concerns of the U.S. Administration and settle questions around TikTok’s future in the U.S.,” TikTok said in a statement following the news Saturday.
The company added that Oracle will become the technology provider for TikTok, which includes securing U.S. user data and meeting national security requirements, and that both Oracle and Walmart can take up to a 20% cumulative stake in the company in a pre-IPO financing round. Oracle said in a separate statement (via AP) that it would take a 12.5% stake in TikTok Global.
This however goes against a comment Trump made earlier in the day claiming that TikTok would be “totally controlled” by both Oracle and Walmart. He further claimed at a rally in North Carolina Saturday that the two companies would be donating $5 billion into a fund for education as to teaching people the “real history of our country, not the fake history,” however there have been no other details on that claim.
TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, must now sign off on the deal before anything goes forward, and it would still need approval from both Chinese authorities and the Treasury Department-led Committee on Foreign Investment.
Oracle had taken the lead in the acquisition for a proposed deal of $20 billion in cash and stock at the end of August, TheWrap previously reported.
After the Department of Commerce announced that new downloads of TikTok would be blocked, the company filed a last-minute lawsuit on Friday night in Washington D.C. federal court in an attempt to block the executive order.
“We disagree with the decision from the Commerce Department, and are disappointed that it stands to block new app downloads from Sunday and ban use of the TikTok app in the US from November 12,” TikTok said in a statement Friday. “Our community of 100 million US users love TikTok because it’s a home for entertainment, self-expression, and connection, and we’re committed to protecting their privacy and safety as we continue working to bring joy to families and meaningful careers to those who create on our platform.”
13 Randy Rainbow's Prickliest - and Most Hilarious - Jabs at Donald Trump (Photos)
Comedian Randy Rainbow's career satirizing politics through new, cutting lyrics to show tunes has brought him praise from the likes of Stephen Sondheim. But as Rainbow (yes, that's his real name) sees it, he hopes people see what he's really trying to do – "be as much of a spoonful of sugar as I can in these troubling times, use comedy as my weapon of choice and get people to laugh instead of cry and sing instead of scream." Here's a look at a few of his greatest hits.
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Parody Title: "I Won't Vote Trump!"
Original Song: "I Won't Grow Up" from "Peter Pan"
Message: That Rainbow won't, well, he won't vote for Trump.
Ingenious Lyric #1: "Don't waste your bad breath on me / I'd sooner cast my vote for Cardi B."
Ingenious Lyric #2: "I won't vote Trump / I don't want another four / and if someone steals my mailbox / I will build a hundred more."
Original Song: Ursula's "Poor Unfortunate Soul" from "The Little Mermaid"
Message: The "scared" president "wallows in self-pity."
Ingenious Lyric #1: "The president says, 'cut out all the testing' / a notion health officials find bizarre/ but, see, he's terribly annoyed / by all the dead and unemployed / because he only cares about his own PR"
Ingenious Lyric #2: "All your wacky, racist rants / have every pundit, pro and poll / saying you'll lose your election / like you've lost your self-control"
Original Song: "The Jitterbug," which was edited out of "The Wizard of Oz"
Message: Calls Trump a coward for "hiding in the basement" when protestors showed up outside the White House.
Ingenious Lyric #1: "His Adderall kicks in / and since it makes him kinda hyper / he acts like he's a big shot / but he's scared he'll wet his diaper"
Ingenious Lyric #2: "A commander in chief / might address all the grief / and what's happening out in the streets / But he's only a clown / so he hides underground / and he sits on the toilet and tweets"
Original Song: "A Spoonful of Sugar" from "Mary Poppins"
Message: The president suggests that a spoonful of Clorox makes your temperature go down.
Ingenious Lyric #1: "A politician who distracts / has very little time for facts / the scientists he's hired are perplexed / While Dr. Birx is 'bout to barf / and hang herself with her own scarf / he diatribes and recklessly prescribes"
Ingenious Lyric #2: "Some Pledge on your pancakes makes your coronavirus pass / if it gives you gas / try some beach in your beer and shove a flashlight up your a—"
Message: Rainbow is voicing his overwhelming love for New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Ingenious Lyric #1: "Oh Andy, baby / you're so strong and rational / from now on I / identify / as Cuomosexual"
Ingenious Lyric #2: "Andy, can't ya see, I'm in quarantine / A nervous wreck / and scurred as heck / of CO-O-VID-19 / But you bring hope / when I can't cope / I guess I'm saying ay-ay-ay-oh, I / love you so, oh Andy"
Original Song: "Adelaide's Lament" from "Guys and Dolls"
Message: That dang coronavirus is everywhere.
Ingenious Lyric #1: "You can spray all the hand sanitizer wherever the virus lurks / but good luck finding any on Amazon or Bath and Bodyworks"
Ingenious Lyric #2: "And you click on your favorite 'Real Housewives' to put your poor mind at ease / then they blow up your phone with alerts every time they hear someone sneeze"
Parody Title: "He's Just a Girl Who'll Quid Pro Quo"
Original Song: "I Cain't Say No" from Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Oklahoma!"
Message: The song title says it all.
Ingenious Lyric #1: "He's just a girl who'll quid pro quo / blackmail's his fav'rite response / He'll badger any friend or foe / until he gets what he wants."
Ingenious Lyric #2: "He's just a fool who'll gladly throw / any old country a bone / long as they bow to his throne / since he can't win on his own"
Original Song: "The Cell Block Tango" from "Chicago"
Message: An unusual number of people in Trump's orbit have been indicted.
Ingenious Lyric #1: "They had it comin' / they had it comin' / they were the best that he could find / and then you guessed it / they got arrested / and now he's losing his freakin' mind"
Ingenious Lyric #2: "Just let Melania go free / but she's complicit / so she'll just visit / I hope for her sake, not conjugally"
Original Song: "My Favorite Things" from "The Sounds of Music"
Message: Let's just say, raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens are not of Trump's list.
Ingenious Lyric #1: "KGB play dates and absolute power / porn stars and playmates who charge by the hour / puppets at Fox News who dance on his strings / these are a few of his favorite things"
Ingenious Lyric #2: "When your life sucks / or for God's sake / when you're 'bout to snap / take comfort in knowing at least you still make the rest of us feel / like crap"
Comedian also knows that singing the praise (literally) for the president’s foes *really* gets under his skin
Comedian Randy Rainbow's career satirizing politics through new, cutting lyrics to show tunes has brought him praise from the likes of Stephen Sondheim. But as Rainbow (yes, that's his real name) sees it, he hopes people see what he's really trying to do – "be as much of a spoonful of sugar as I can in these troubling times, use comedy as my weapon of choice and get people to laugh instead of cry and sing instead of scream." Here's a look at a few of his greatest hits.
YouTube/Getty
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