Trump: "TikTok-Oracle Deal Very Close"... Approval Expected Soon

"Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison is Very Excellent"

▲Donald Trump, President of the United States [Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] U.S. President Donald Trump stated on the 15th (local time) that the agreement with Oracle regarding the sale negotiations of the Chinese video-sharing social networking service (SNS) TikTok is "very close."

According to foreign media, President Trump told reporters at the White House on the same day, "I heard we are close to an agreement," and added, "I will look into the proposal TikTok has made."

Regarding the approval of the technical partnership between ByteDance and Oracle, he added, "We will also make a decision soon."

President Trump also praised Larry Ellison, the founder of Oracle, saying, "I have great respect for Ellison," and "He has been a truly great person for a long time."

Earlier, President Trump demanded that ByteDance sell TikTok's U.S. user data to an American company by September 20, citing national security concerns that the information could be handed over to the Chinese Communist Party. He threatened to ban TikTok usage in the U.S. if this did not happen.

In response, the Chinese government designated AI technologies necessary for TikTok service operations, such as voice and text recognition processing, as technologies requiring government approval for export.

As ByteDance had to persuade the Chinese government and Oracle the U.S. government, ByteDance proposed a technical partnership card, making Oracle a data management cooperation partner instead of selling the U.S. business.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin stated the day before, "We received a proposal from ByteDance last weekend that includes Oracle becoming a 'trusted data security partner' for TikTok's U.S. operations," and added, "We will review it."

Meanwhile, U.S. media are also paying attention to the friendship between Ellison and President Trump. Ellison held a fundraising event for President Trump at his California mansion in February this year. In April, he also joined the White House advisory group for economic recovery.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the close relationship between Ellison and President Trump appears to have played a role in Oracle being selected as the preferred bidder in the TikTok sale negotiations, surpassing Microsoft.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.