Trump blesses new TikTok deal involving Oracle and Walmart

Washington, Sep 20 (PTI): US President Donald Trump has announced a possible deal between Oracle and Walmart to share the US operations of Chinese video sharing application TikTok, which was placed on a ban list due to security concerns.

The deal mandates the creation of a new American company — incorporated in Texas — and the prospect of 25,000 new jobs. Further, TikTok will give USD 5 billion to fund the education of American youths.

Trump said he has given his blessings to the new deal. “TikTok is moving along. We’re dealing with Oracle, which you know of, in combination with Walmart, another great American company. The security will be 100 per cent. They’ll be using separate clouds (data) and a lot of very, very powerful security,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Saturday.

Last month, Trump had signed an executive order to ban Chinese applications TikTok and WeChat by September 15 unless the ownership of the two Chinese companies changed to American hands.

“They’ll (TikTok) be making about a USD 5 billion contribution towards education. We’re going to be setting up a very large fund for the education of American youths, and that will be great. I’ve been asking for this (education fund),” Trump said on Saturday.

“We’ll see whether or not it (the deal) happens, but conceptually, I think it’s a great deal for America. They’ll be hiring at least 25,000 people. It will most likely be incorporated in Texas. It’ll be a brand new company. It will have nothing to do with any outside land, any outside country. It will have nothing to do with China. It will be totally secure,” Trump said.

“I think it’s going to be a fantastic deal. The technology is superior to anything in the world, and we like that. Again, a lot of jobs, a lot of money for our country. Billions of dollars of taxes will be paid every year. Hundreds of millions of users, and they’ll be happy. Everybody will be happy,” he said.

Trump said TikTok will keep its name. “I have given the deal my blessing. If they get it done, that’s great, if they don’t, that’s okay too. It’s a great deal for America,” he said.

“They’ll report the full scope of the deal very soon, but it will be totally controlled by Oracle and Walmart,” he added.