The Trump administration was at a loss on Tuesday over the president's suggestion to shake down Microsoft in its proposed purchase of Chinese app TikTok.<br />According to Gizmodo, the Trump administration has threatened to ban TikTok in the US, possibly by putting it on a Commerce Department blacklist.<br />The threat is based on largely theoretical concerns that Beijing-based owner ByteDance could use it to spy on tens of millions of users.<br />One way around a ban would be for ByteDance to sell off the app to a US company such as Microsoft, for tens of billions of dollars.<br />On Monday, Trump told reporters that he supported such a deal, provided Microsoft greased the wheels by giving a percentage of the price to the US Treasury.<br />He compared such a payment to 'key money,' which in New York real estate terms means a bribe.<br />Both White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow and press secretary White House Kayleigh McEnany were unable to explain the apparent extortion demand.<br />There’s no specific blueprint here. Larry Kudlow, White House Economic Adviser Interview with Fox Business News.
