Amazon tells White House it’s interested in buying TikTok

Amazon has told the White House it is interested in buying TikTok ahead of a key deadline by which its parent company, China-based ByteDance, must either sell the popular social media app or face a ban in the U.S., CBS News has learned, according to two people familiar with discussions. 

Amazon has submitted a bid for the app, the New York Times reported earlier, citing people familiar with the matter. 

Both Amazon and TikTok declined to comment on the matter. 

Amazon’s bid comes after lawmakers last year passed a bill setting a Jan. 19 deadline for the sale, which Mr. Trump extended for 75 days. He set a deadline of Saturday, April 5, for ByteDance to either sell its stake in the app or be forced to shut down in the U.S.

The retail giant made the offer in a letter addressed to Vice President JD Vance and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, according to people familiar with the matter, the New York Times reported. 

AppLovin, a California-based mobile technology company, has also expressed interest in acquiring TikTok, a person familiar with the matter told CBS News. 

In remarks to reporters on Air Force One over the weekend, Mr. Trump addressed the matter of TikTok’s sale, saying, “We have a lot of potential buyers. There’s a lot of interest in TikTok. The decision is going to be my decision.” 

He added that he’d “like to see TikTok remain alive.”

contributed to this report.