Donald Trump seeks TikTok payment to US, despite no clear authority

President Donald Trump repeatedly insisted on Monday that any sale of TikTok’s US operations would have to include a substantial payment to the US — but it wasn’t clear under what authority he can extract a payout.

It would be unprecedented, based on recent history, for the US government to collect a cut of a transaction involving companies in which it doesn’t hold a stake. Trump said the money would come from China or an American buyer such as Microsoft Corp.

“The United States should get a very large percentage of that price, because we’re making it possible,” Trump told reporters at a news conference Monday evening. “Whatever the number is, it would come from the sale, which nobody else would be thinking out but me, but that’s the way I think. And I think it’s very fair.”