(Just The News)—Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., will seek to tank any business deal to save social media platform TikTok, championed by President Trump, unless it completely divests from Chinese control as required by U.S. law, “three people with direct knowledge of the matter” reportedly told New York Post business columnist Charles Gasparino.
That could put the kibosh on Oracle’s plan to house user data and TikTok’s algorithm, which China-based ByteDance would still own, on Oracle’s own servers. President Trump has often said Oracle should be involved in saving the app.
Sources close to Cotton said “he’s recently asked about the status of the talks and has had conversations with the White House about the matter,” according to Gasparino.
Trump’s 75-day executive order giving ByteDance breathing room to find a U.S. buyer expires April 5, and the Chinese Communist Party would have to approve the sale.
“People close to the negotiations say Trump might have to negotiate directly with Chinese President Xi Jinping to make it happen,” but Xi has resisted giving up the algorithm to a U.S. company, Gasparino said.
