Trump endorses potential Musk or Ellison purchase of TikTok

Shortly after taking office, President Donald Trump expressed openness to a deal where Elon Musk or Oracle's Larry Ellison would acquire TikTok to avoid a ban. This shifted the focus from a total shutdown to a high-profile industry consolidation involving major tech players.

The political backing changed the calculus for negotiations and kept TikTok central to the year's biggest M&A storylines.