US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he did not like Oracle’s bid for an alliance with TikTok, which is owned by Chinese tech firm ByteDance. His comments came after the agency reviewing the deal reportedly found its structure did not resolve national security concerns, although Trump said he was unaware of the ruling, reported the South China Morning Post.
According to Bloomberg, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (CFIUS) has concluded that allowing Oracle to become TikTok’s “trusted tech partner” was not enough to address the popular video-sharing app’s access to data from its nearly 100 million US users.
Secretary of State Michael Pompeo was among those voicing concern. He and other officials remain wary about the proposed new ownership structure and how much influence it would give China over the company.
At Wednesday’s press conference, Trump said he had not been informed of CFIUS’ conclusion. “We’re looking into that from the standpoint of ByteDance. So, if that’s the case, I’m not going to be happy with that,” he said. “I mean just conceptually I can tell you I don’t like that.” Trump has the authority to sign off on a deal, but national security officials’ concerns could sway his decision.
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