US talks with China on TikTok deal to commence next week: Trump

United States President Donald Trump has said he will start talking to China on Monday or Tuesday about a possible deal concerning popular video sharing platform TikTok.

He said the US "pretty much" has a deal on the sale of the TikTok short-video app.

"I think we're gonna start Monday or Tuesday [...] talking to China, perhaps President Xi Jinping or one of his representatives, but we would pretty much have a deal," Trump told reporters on Air Force One.

Last month, Trump extended to September 17 a deadline for China-based ByteDance to divest the US assets of TikTok.

A deal had been in the works this spring to spin off TikTok's US operations into a new US-based firm, majority-owned and operated by US investors, but it was put on hold after China indicated it would not approve it following Trump's announcements of steep tariffs on Chinese goods.

Trump said the US will probably have to get a deal approved by China.

When asked how confident he was that China would agree to a deal, he said, "I'm not confident, but I think so".

"President Xi and I have a great relationship, and I think it's good for them. I think the deal is good for China and it's good for us."

Last week, during an interview with the Fox News, President Trump had claimed to have found a buyer for the TikTok.

The US president said the deal he is developing would probably need China's approval to move forward and predicted that the President Xi would likely approve it.