Trump says U.S. government could buy TikTok
President Donald Trump temporarily delayed enforcement of the U.S. TikTok ban last month, stating that he intended to "negotiate a resolution" preventing the popular video sharing app from exiting the country. Now Trump appears to have revealed at least one plan he's considering — namely, having the U.S. government simply buy TikTok itself.
The president called for the establishment of a U.S. sovereign wealth fund in his latest executive order on Monday, directing new Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary nominee Howard Lutnick to devise a plan for the fund's creation within 90 days. This plan is to include recommendations for "funding mechanisms, investment strategies, fund structure, and a governance model."
Much like other investment funds, government-owned funds aim to build wealth for a country by investing in foreign and domestic assets such as stocks, bonds, and real estate. The proceeds are then added to the government's budget.
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This means that, if a U.S. sovereign wealth fund is created, the federal government may be capable of purchasing a significant stake in TikTok.
Will the U.S. buy TikTok?
Speaking about his plans for the U.S. sovereign wealth fund, Trump specifically named TikTok as an example of a company it might invest in. The former Biden administration banned TikTok in the U.S. from Feb. 19, alleging that the app is a tool for Chinese surveillance and propaganda. TikTok was thus prohibited from continuing its operations in the country unless its parent company ByteDance sold it to an entity the U.S. deems friendly.
Of course, there's no entity more friendly toward the U.S. government than the U.S. government itself.
"We're going to be doing something perhaps with TikTok, perhaps not," Trump stated. "If we make the right deal we'll do it, otherwise we won't. But I have the right to do that. And we might put that in the sovereign wealth fund, whatever we make, or if we do a partnership with very wealthy people. A lot of options. But we could put that as an example in the fund."
Trump has previously indicated that said partners may include U.S. companies Microsoft and Oracle, stating that there is "a lot of interest" in TikTok from possible buyers.
If Trump does plan to use this proposed sovereign wealth fund to purchase TikTok's U.S. operations, he'll be on a tight timeline. The temporary stay on the app's ban expires 75 days from Trump's inauguration, meaning the sale may have to be negotiated before April 5. While Bessent expressed an intent to have the fund up and running within a year, that's still well past when the TikTok ban delay expires.
Trump could potentially try to extend the delay, particularly if negotiations for a sale are underway. However, any intent to buy TikTok ultimately means nothing unless ByteDance is willing to sell. The company has shown absolutely no interest in doing so, consistently maintaining that such divestment is "technologically, commercially, and legally infeasible."
Funding the U.S. sovereign wealth fund
No solid details have been provided regarding exactly where money for a U.S. sovereign wealth fund might come from. However, Trump previously proposed the idea of such a fund during his election campaign, stating last September that it would be funded by "tariffs and other intelligent things." Trump recently announced tariffs on trading partners Mexico, Canada, and China, though the former two have now been temporarily paused at the last minute.
"Other countries have sovereign wealth funds, and they're much smaller countries and they're not the United States," said Trump. "We have tremendous potential in this country. Tremendous."
Countries such as Singapore, Norway, and the United Arab Emirates do already have sovereign wealth funds, however these are typically financed by their budget surplus. In contrast, the U.S. has consistently run at a deficit since 2002, with the country's national debt currently standing at $710.9 billion.
Australia and China also have sovereign wealth funds despite both currently running at a deficit. Even so, Australia's fund was established in 2006 during a string of budget surpluses, while China's was funded by the sale of special treasury bonds, long-term government bonds which reach maturity after decades.
How will the U.S. sovereign wealth fund be managed?
There is currently little information about how a U.S. sovereign wealth fund might be managed or operated either. Former president Joe Biden previously considered the creation of a sovereign wealth fund in 2024, however issues such as its funding, structure, and strategy were never completely ironed out.
Some have speculated that unelected billionaire Elon Musk may become involved in the proposed fund's management. It isn't an entirely unreasonable notion, particularly considering Trump's admiration of Musk as a "great business guy."
Musk has quickly become deeply involved in U.S. federal affairs since Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20, focusing on the country's finances in particular. Earlier this week, Bessent reportedly granted the Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) full access to the federal treasury's database and payment system, raising alarm on the Senate Finance Committee. The White House further announced on Monday that Trump has made Musk a "special government employee," with CNN reporting that he has top secret security clearance.
Such special employees typically work for the federal government for up to 130 days, while DOGE is scheduled to dissolve on July 4, 2026. Even so, it currently appears unlikely that Musk will bow out of federal affairs after either deadline has passed.
Interestingly, it was recently reported that Musk turned down a dinner with the head of Norway's sovereign wealth fund last October, taking objection to them declining him a "favour" by voting against his $56 billion Tesla CEO compensation package. Norway's fund is one of Tesla's largest shareholders.
A sovereign wealth fund may enable the U.S. government to directly invest not only in TikTok, but in Tesla as well (though there may be measures against this if Musk does become involved in its management). The fund would also theoretically be able to invest in other big tech companies such as Jeff Bezos' Amazon and Mark Zuckerberg's Meta. If it does, it would be a significant payoff for the big tech billionaires' efforts to endear themselves to Trump as of late.
Topics TikTok Donald Trump Government Politics
