Microsoft reportedly eyes buying TikTok as Trump says 'we may be banning' it

Microsoft is in talks to acquire TikTok, The New York Times reports.

This news of the potential acquisition of TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, comes as President Trump on Friday said that the U.S. may ban the video app. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo previously said the U.S. is "certainly looking at" a potential ban of TikTok due to national security concerns.

"We're looking at TikTok," Trump told reporters on Friday. "We may be banning TikTok. We may be doing some other things. There are a couple of options. ... We are looking at a lot of alternatives with respect to TikTok."

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The Times reports it's "unclear how advanced the talks" are between TikTok and Microsoft at this time but writes that "any deal could help alter TikTok's ownership." Amid scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers, TikTok has said it has "never provided user data to the Chinese government, nor would we do so if asked," and CEO Kevin Mayer earlier this week wrote, "TikTok has become the latest target, but we are not the enemy."

Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported on Friday that Trump is set to announce that his administration is ordering ByteDance to divest its ownership of TikTok, with this move possibly coming "as soon as Friday."