Despite being an overall strong supporter of Donald Trump, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., may block the president’s plan to save TikTok, according to a report.
That’s because a potential deal to save the video-sharing app would involve some sort of “licensing agreement” between Oracle and ByteDance, TikTok’s China-based parent company, the New York Post reported Tuesday.
Oracle and TikTok executives have argued that since the app’s algorithm would be located inside Oracle’s cloud, the U.S. tech giant would control the algorithm and not the Chinese communists.
Cotton, chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, has made it clear he will oppose any agreement that doesn’t comply with bipartisan legislation demanding that TikTok be completely divested from Chinese control and ownership, according to the Post.
The outlet reported that White House aides are debating whether it’s worth fighting to save TikTok if the Chinese don’t want to relinquish total control.
“I know Trump likes the app, he thinks it helped him win in November, but with everything else on his plate, is it worth saving?” one source told the Post. “That’s one conversation that they’re having in the White House.”
A person close to Cotton told reporter Charles Gasparino, “If this deal doesn’t comply with the law, he’s absolutely against it, but it’s too soon to say what the substance of the deal will be.”
Trump last month tapped Vice President J.D. Vance and national security adviser Michael Waltz to oversee the potential sale of the social media app. Vance last week said he expects a “high level” TikTok deal by the April 5 deadline.
Federal law required ByteDance to cut ties with TikTok by Jan. 19 or face a nationwide ban.
On the first day of his second White House term, Trump signed an executive order seeking to delay by 75 days the enforcement of the TikTok ban.
Several days later, NPR reported Oracle and Microsoft were in talks with the White House to take over TikTok. That deal would allow ByteDance to keep a minority stake in the social media app while Oracle will oversee the app’s algorithm, data collection, and software updates.
Trump recently said four different groups are bidding on the popular short-video app, which boasts 170 million users in the U.S.
Trump previously said he looked to have the U.S. government broker a deal for 50% control of TikTok.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this story.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.
