US should get 'substantial portion' of TikTok deal: Trump

US President Donald Trump said the government should get a "substantial portion" of the sales price of the American operations of popular short-video app TikTok.

He also warned that he will ban the service in the United States on September 15, if there is no deal.

The turnaround came after Trump on Friday said he was planning to ban the Chinese-owned app's US operations as soon as Saturday after dismissing a possible sale to Microsoft.

Reuters reported last week that some investors are valuing TikTok at about $50 billion, citing people familiar with the matter.

"I did say that if you buy it, whatever the price is that goes to whoever owns it, because I guess it’s China essentially … I said a very substantial portion of that price is going to have to come into the Treasury of the United States because we’re making it possible for this deal to happen," Trump said.

Later, he defended his push for a cut, adding "nobody else would be thinking about but me, but that's the way I think."

Nicholas Klein, a lawyer at DLA Piper, said generally "the government doesn't have the authority to take a cut of a private deal through" the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which is the interagency committee that reviews some foreign investments in the United States. It was not clear how the US government would receive part of the purchase price.

He added it "will close down on September 15 unless Microsoft or somebody else is able to buy it and work out a deal, an appropriate deal so the Treasury … of the United States gets a lot of money."

TikTok said Monday it is "committed to continuing to bring joy to families and meaningful careers to those who create on our platform as we build TikTok for the long term. TikTok will be here for many years to come."