President supports TikTok deal

NEW YORK — President Donald Trump said Saturday he’s given his “blessing” to a proposed deal between Oracle and Walmart for the U.S. operations of TikTok, the Chinese-owned app he’s targeted for national security and data privacy concerns.

Trump said the proposed deal will result in a new company likely to be based in Texas.

“I have given the deal my blessing,” he said. “If they get it done, that’s great. If they don’t, that’s OK too.”

Trump said the new company will be hiring at least 25,000 people and making a $5 billion contribution to a fund dedicated to education for Americans. “That’s their contribution that I’ve been asking for,” he said.

“We are pleased that the proposal by TikTok, Oracle, and Walmart will resolve the security concerns of the U.S. Administration and settle questions around TikTok’s future in the U.S.,” TikTok said in a statement.

TikTok said both Oracle and Walmart will take part in a financing round where they can take up to a 20% cumulative stake in the company. The deal will make Oracle responsible for hosting all TikTok’s U.S. user data and securing computer systems to ensure U.S. national security requirements are satisfied. TikTok said it’s also working with Walmart on a “commercial partnership” but gave no other details.

Representatives from Oracle and Walmart could not be immediately reached for comment late Saturday.

Trump has been demanding that TikTok, a video app popular with younger people, be sold to a U.S. company or else have its U.S. operations shut down. He’s also been targeting WeChat, another Chinese-owned app. The dispute over the two apps is the latest flashpoint in the rising tensions between the world’s two largest economies.