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Trump reportedly pushed again for a cut of the TikTok deal in a call with Oracle chairman Larry Ellison and Walmart CEO Doug McMillon

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President Donald Trump again made the case that the US government should receive a payout as part of a TikTok deal, this time to Oracle cofounder and chairman Larry Ellison and Walmart CEO Doug McMillon, Bloomberg reported.

Trump spoke with Ellison and McMillon by phone on Friday, according to Bloomberg, as he's considering whether to sign off on a deal submitted by Oracle and TikTok parent ByteDance earlier this week and on the same day the US Commerce Department said it will ban all downloads of the viral video app starting Sunday.

Trump has repeatedly argued that the US government should get a cut of any deal involving the sale of TikTok's assets to an American company, which he has sought to force through multiple executive orders due to alleged national security concerns.

But on Wednesday, Trump said his lawyers had advised him there's no "legal path" through which the government could receive such a payout.

"Amazingly, I find that you're not allowed to do that — you're not allowed to accept money," Trump told reporters during the press conference. "If they're willing to make big payments to the government, they're not allowed, because there's no way of doing that."

On Thursday, the US Treasury Department and ByteDance reportedly reached a tentative agreement for a deal that would allow Oracle and US investors to take a majority stake in TikTok. Walmart, which had initially joined a bid with Microsoft, is still looking to become an investor in the viral video app, according to Bloomberg.

As the Sunday deadline looms, any deal is far from certain.

Read the original article on Business Insider