The app, which has over 170 million American users, was directed to either sell its US operations to an American company or face a ban effective from Jan 19.

PRESIDENT Donald Trump has said he’s open to the possibility of Elon Musk purchasing TikTok. Trump, who signed an executive order delaying the federal ban of TikTok for 75 days just hours

ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, is required to sell the app to a U.S.-based buyer or face a nationwide ban.

I met with the owners of Tiktok, the big owners, it’s worthless if it doesn’t get a permit,” Trump said. “It’s worth like a trillion dollars.”

As the Jan. 19 date for a TikTok ban approaches, another name is emerging as a potential buyer: SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who already owns X.

After years of rejecting the idea of a sale of TikTok’s US assets to an American buyer in order to avert a ban, China and ByteDance may have found an owner they could live with: Elon Musk.

At a press briefing on Tuesday, President Trump suggested that he’s open to the idea of Elon Musk or Larry Ellison buying TikTok.

President Donald Trump said he is in favor of Elon Musk or Larry Ellison buying TikTok as he offered his latest thinking on what a deal might look like to save the US operations of the social media platform.

The US President was open to billionaire Elon Musk purchasing the Chinese social media app as the search for a buyer continued

US President Donald Trump has shown support for Elon Musk potentially buying TikTok and proposed that the US government receive a 50% ownership stake

Tuesday marks President Donald Trump's first full day in office. Keep up with the USA TODAY Network's coverage of his top priorities for Americans.