San Francisco (AFP)

After blowing hot and cold, Donald Trump finally declared himself in favor of a quick takeover by Microsoft of TikTok, owned by Chinese ByteDance, while demanding that part of the transaction be paid into "the coffers of the State".

The American president, who accuses the very popular application of spying on its users on behalf of China, announced Friday that he was banning it completely from the United States.

TikTok "will close on September 15 unless Microsoft or another (American) company is able to buy it and find a deal," he changed his mind on Monday.

He added that part of the negotiated sum was to return to the Treasury.

"A substantial part of the price will have to go into the coffers of the United States, because we are making this transaction possible," he told reporters at the White House.

"They have no rights unless we give it to them," he insisted.

The message appeared to have been received five out of five by Microsoft. The acquisition will be subject to "a full security assessment and will bring economic benefits to the United States, including the US Treasury," the Seattle company said on Sunday.

It must be said that, Friday evening, Donald Trump was opposed to a takeover, even by an American company. Microsoft boss Satya Nadella spoke with him on Sunday, and obviously managed to coax him.

- App and diplomacy -

Amid political and trade tensions with China, Washington has accused the platform for months of being used by Chinese intelligence for surveillance purposes.

"For security reasons, we must not be controlled by China. They are too big, too intrusive," said the tenant of the White House.

TikTok has always firmly denied any data sharing with Beijing.

The social network, widely used by 15-25 year olds, has around a billion users around the world who create and share short clips, generally musical, offbeat or humorous.

ByteDance operates a separate application in China, on the same principle.

"TikTok could be forced to sell its American activities," admitted Zhang Yiming, the founder of the Chinese group, in an email sent to his employees and quoted by the official Beijing Daily on Monday.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry, for its part, accused Washington of hypocrisy.

"Under cover of an abusive notion of national security, and without proof, the United States (...) threatens companies", carried the spokesperson Wang Wenbin.

"This goes against the principle of the market economy and demonstrates their hypocrisy (...) in terms of preserving the so-called (principles) of impartiality and freedom," he added.

If the transaction goes through, Microsoft will own and run the social network in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

The computer giant has vowed to "ensure that all data from US users of TikTok is transferred and remains in the United States."

- "Fire evacuation drill" -

Several Democrats have shown their approval. “If Microsoft buys TikTok, everyone wins,” tweeted Andrew Yang, his party's former presidential nomination contestant.

Microsoft, whose title took more than 5% on Wall Street Monday, would have a chance to break into the popular social media market, even if observers remain cautious.

The group's adventures outside the professional markets "have had mixed results at best," notes Rich Greenfield, analyst at LightShed. “Think of Skype, Mixer, Hololens, Linkedin and even Minecraft, which didn't grow as big as it could with another buyer.”

At the end of June, the company shut down its video game streaming platform Mixer, leaving the field open to industry giant Twitch (Amazon) and its two rivals, YouTube Gaming and Facebook Gaming.

"It's not a bad + owner + for TikTok, but we don't think that with Microsoft at the helm, the app will pose a greater threat to Snapchat, Facebook and Twitter (...)", Rich Greenfield commented.

The analysis also notes the uncertainties in terms of markets - how to divide an international social network by country? - and also those linked to the political context.

"We can't help but wonder if a Biden government (the Democratic presidential candidate for November in the United States) wouldn't give ByteDance more time to find the + best + deal possible, instead of what looks like currently in a fire drill ".

© 2020 AFP