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Microsoft and ByteDance Pause Negotiations Over TikTok After Trump Flare-Up: WSJ

The White House had reportedly been involved in the talks about a sale, so no one expected Trump to say he wouldn’t support it.

Microsoft and ByteDance have paused their negotiations over the sale of TikTok after President Donald Trump said late Friday that he would not support an acquisition of the video app by a U.S. company, The Wall Street Journal reports. Trump announced Friday he would ban the app by executive order over national security concerns, though his legal authority to do so remains in question. The companies reportedly had not expected the commander-in-chief to come out against their proposed agreement because the White House had previously been involved in the negotiations, and the Journal reports that TikTok even pledged to create 10,000 jobs in the United States over the next three years as a conciliatory move towards Trump.