President Trump has rejected the deal between ByteDance and Oracle (NYSE: ORCL) to keep video-sharing app TikTok operational in the U.S., according to multiple reports Friday morning.
The Commerce Department states that the President will sign an order today that, as of Sunday, will ban the download of TikTok on any platform such as Apple's App Store, the Google Play Store, or any other platform "that can be reached from within the United States," as reported by Reuters.
Image source: Getty Images.
The ban will also apply to WeChat, the Chinese mobile texting app owned by Tencent (OTC: TCEHY), though it will will not prohibit U.S. companies from conducting business on the app outside of the country.
Apple, Google, and others will also be able to host the apps in their app stores outside of the U.S.
The Trump administration raised national security concerns about the data collection practices of the apps, and the president said on Aug. 6 he wanted TikTok in particular sold to an American company or it would be banned in the U.S.
A deal had been hammered out over the past few days that would give Oracle a 20% ownership stake in the app and would allow Walmart (NYSE: WMT) to join in as a partner and get a seat on the board of directors of TikTok's U.S. operations.
There were doubts that Trump would sign off on it, though, as it gave Oracle a far smaller interest in the company and much less input into its operations than the complete sale he called for. As there are still two days before the ban goes into effect, there could still be changes made to the arrangement with Oracle that would satisfy the president and he could rescind the order.
The order will be officially announced at 8:45 a.m. this morning.
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