Former Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin said during a Thursday CNBC appearance that he is seeking to purchase TikTok from its Chinese-based owner.
The House of Representatives passed the Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which would require the social media app to be sold from ByteDance within about five months to continue operating in the U.S., by a 352-65 vote on Thursday. Mnuchin told “Squawk Box” co-host Andrew Ross Sorkin he felt the popular app should be sold and that he was assembling investors to buy the app.
“It’s a great business and I’m going to put together a group to buy TikTok,” Mnuchin said.
Mnuchin, who put together a group of investors to rescue New York Community Bancorp, did not name which investors he would bring in to purchase the app.
WATCH:
“I think the focus should be — it should be sold, it should be controlled by a U.S. business,” Mnuchin later added. “It’s a great company, it would be terrible if it would shut down.”
He also said that a competitor to Facebook, Instagram and YouTube is needed. Trump cited Facebook when opposing the bill, writing on Truth Social that “if you get rid of TikTok, Facebook and Zuckerschmuck will double their business.”
“I think he doesn’t want to shut down because he’s concerned about the power that that would create for Facebook. I believe he would support a sale, he did support a sale. You know, I’ll call him up later and ask him,” Mnuchin said about the former president.
“Shark Tank” star Kevin O’Leary also expressed interest in a purchase.
“Somebody’s going to buy it,” O’Leary said. “It won’t be Meta and it won’t be Google because a regulator will stop that. A syndicate will be formed. I would like to be involved, obviously.”
Mnuchin did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW
Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!
- Police chief who groveled after discussing ‘East African crime’ panders to Somalis again - December 17, 2025
- Ilhan Omar whines about ICE operations in Minneapolis - December 17, 2025
- ‘It’s all bullsh*t’: Tim Walz goes on anti-Second Amendment rant - December 17, 2025
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.
BPR INSIDER COMMENTS
Scroll down for non-member comments or join our insider conversations by becoming a member. We'd love to have you!
