Trump demands feds get a 'very substantial' cut of any Microsoft-TikTok sale, doesn't explain how that's legal

Trump
(Image credit: Doug Mills-Pool/Getty Images)

President Trump signaled Monday that he is okay with Microsoft purchasing the U.S. part of TikTok, the Chinese-owned social media company he has threatened to ban, but it will cost ... someone. First, he told reporters at the White House that if Microsoft or another U.S. company purchases TikTok by his Sept. 15 deadline, "a very substantial portion of that price is going to have to come into the treasury of the United States." Why? "The United States should be reimbursed or paid because without the United States they don't have anything," Trump said enigmatically.

"It's a little bit like the landlord-tenant," Trump explained. "Without a lease, the tenant has nothing. So they pay what's called key money or they pay something." Later Monday, Trump elaborated, arguing the U.S. "should get a very large percentage of that price," and "it would come from the sale — whatever the number is, it would come from the sale." This was an idea "nobody else would be thinking about but me," Trump said. "But that's the way I think."

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.