Washington, March 14 (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President JD Vance is anticipating that a preliminary agreement to settle ownership of the social media platform TikTok will be reached by April 5, as relayed by two White House officials.
The future of TikTok has been uncertain since a law came into effect on January 19, mandating its Chinese owner ByteDance to sell it due to national security concerns or face a ban.
Following his inauguration on January 20, U.S. President [Name of President] signed an executive order to postpone the law's enforcement by 75 days.
The President enlisted Vice President Vance and national security adviser Michael Waltz in February to supervise the potential sale of the social media app. Over the weekend, he indicated that his administration had been in communication with four interested parties regarding a possible deal.
Vance stated during an interview on Air Force Two with NBC News that he expects the agreement to address national security issues and result in the establishment of an independent American operation for TikTok.
A White House official mentioned the possibility of further negotiations post the April 5 deadline to finalize the specifics of the deal.
TikTok and ByteDance have not responded immediately to a request for comment.