United States Vice President J.D. Vance and National Security Adviser Michael Waltz will lead negotiations for TikTok’s potential sale to U.S. buyers ahead of an April deadline, two people familiar with the arrangement told NBC News. 

The move follows President Trump’s 75-day enforcement pause of the bipartisan law mandating ByteDance’s divestment of the social media platform. This allows the administration to determine a path forward that “protects national security while avoiding an abrupt shutdown of a communications platform used by millions of Americans.”

Several U.S.-based entities have expressed interest in acquiring TikTok. Notable prospective buyers include content creator Jimmy Donaldson, known professionally as MrBeast, and billionaire Frank McCourt. 

The administration has floated the possibility of a 50/50 American-Chinese joint ownership structure, though whether such an arrangement would address national security concerns remains unclear.

Regulatory Timeline and App Store Status

Sale discussions continue following a brief 12-hour service interruption on January 18, when TikTok went dark in the U.S. before returning after Trump indicated he would review the ban. 

While existing users maintain full functionality, Google and Apple currently do not offer TikTok in their app stores. The Department of Justice has clarified that app stores won’t face penalties should they choose to restore TikTok downloads.

NBC notes ByteDance’s position in negotiations may be affected by Trump’s recent implementation of an additional 10% tariff on Chinese imports. 

Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, ranking member of the Select Committee on Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, suggests ByteDance might be more receptive to selling after exhausting legal options to maintain control.

“There’s only so much they can try to do to change the law, it all failed. And so now they have to fight with the law,” Krishnamoorthi said in a statement.

The situation has drawn attention from lawmakers, including Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), who supported the divestment legislation while emphasizing that the goal isn’t to end the platform but to address security concerns.

“I understand that it’s important to a lot of folks. They use it for businesses. I get that, but I also am a member who focuses a lot on national security,” he said. “We structured [the legislation] that way because we don’t want to end the platform.”

Amid TikTok’s legal turmoil, Chinese social platform RedNote made strategic moves to capture the attention of American users. According to a brief obtained by WIRED, RedNote partnered with New York-based marketing agency Solare Global to recruit U.S. influencers for a campaign to increase its market presence.

Known as Xiaohongshu in China, RedNote has already seen significant traction in the U.S. market, recently reaching the top position in U.S. app store charts. The platform currently maintains over 300 million monthly active users, primarily in China.