Donald Trump agrees on Microsoft-TikTok deal, gives 45 days to agree sale

The U.S. President Donald Trump has alterted his opinion on banning the popular video sharing app TikTok in the country.

On Sunday, sources close to the matter told Reutres that Trump has also agreed to to give TikTok's Chinese parent 45 days to negotiate its sale to U.S. tech giant Microsoft.

Popular video sharing app has been heavily criticized for its link with China. Owned by Chinese company Bytedance, TikTok was also reported to shift its headquarters to UK in the same light.

US Officials have said TikTok with its Chinese roots poses a national risk to security of users as it was alleged to breach privacy.

Trump on Saturday said "as far as TikTok is concerned, we are banning it." He also dismissed of any possible spin-off deal with Microsoft buying TikTok to avoid the bar in the country.

But following a discussion between Trump and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, the company said in a statement that it would continue negotiations to buy the app and that it aimed to reach a deal by Sept. 15.

It has not been clear what made the US president to switch course, however, reuters reported that several prominent Republican lawmakers have urged him to back selling TikTok to Microsoft.

Moreover, banning TikTok from the country would enrage youth who uses the social media app quite frequently, alienating their votes to Trump ahead of the U.S. presidential elections in November.

ByteDance had earlier proposed to keep a minority stake in the business, however, the White House had rejected the deal.

Now, under the new deal, Microsoft has promised that all private data belonging to TikTok's American users is transferred to and remains in the United States.