Axios: Trump Has Microsoft/TikTok Deal “On His Desk”

Axios reports:

President Trump “has a deal on his desk,” whereby Microsoft would lead an acquisition of 100% of the U.S. operations of TikTok, according to a source familiar with the negotiations.

U.S. presidents don’t typically have approval or veto power over merger agreements. But this situation is different because of the involvement of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS), which has been reviewing ByteDance’s 2017 acquisition of U.S. app Musical.ly and eventually merged with TikTok.

Microsoft was not among the Big Tech companies called to testify earlier this week in front of a House committee focused on antitrust, thus perhaps giving it more acquisition flexibility than a more natural TikTok owner like Facebook or Google.

RELATED: Facebook is attempting to lure major TikTok creators to its soon to be launched competitor, Reels. Some of TikTok’s most popular users have reportedly been offered hundreds of thousands of dollars. Reels is already operating via Instagram in several countries.