US President Donald Trump said his administration is "very close" to a deal to find a buyer for TikTok.

The social network has been threatened with a ban by the US if it is not sold by its Chinese owner by the weekend, AFP reports.

"We're very close to a deal with a very good group of people," Trump said aboard Air Force One.

He indicated that it involves "multiple" investors, but gave no further details.

The hugely popular video-sharing app has over 170 million US users. It is threatened by a U.S. law that was overwhelmingly passed last year that requires TikTok to separate from its Chinese owner ByteDance or face a ban in the U.S.

Motivated by national security concerns and the widespread belief in Washington that TikTok is ultimately controlled by the Chinese government, the law went into effect on January 19, one day before Trump's inauguration.

But the Republican president quickly announced a reprieve that allowed him to proceed. That reprieve will expire on April 5.

The US president downplayed the risks that TikTok is in danger of being banned in the US. He said he remained confident of finding a buyer for the app's US business.

Trump also hinted that TikTok could even be part of a broader deal with China to ease the tough tariffs he has imposed on Beijing as part of a sweeping global tariff package.

Asked if he was willing to make deals with countries on tariffs, he said, "As long as they give us something that is good. For example with TikTok."

"We have a situation with TikTok where China is likely to say, we'll approve the deal, but will you do something about tariffs. Tariffs give us great negotiating opportunities," he added.

According to reports, the most likely solution is for existing US investors in ByteDance to transfer their stakes to a new independent global company, TikTok.

Additional US investors, including Oracle and Blackstone, the private equity firm, will be brought in to reduce the Chinese investors' stake.

Much of TikTok's U.S. operations are already hosted on Oracle servers, and company chairman Larry Ellison is a longtime Trump ally.

But uncertainty remains, especially over what will happen to TikTok's valuable algorithm. The New York Times has hinted that the new company may license it from ByteDance.

Amazon has also reportedly made a last-minute bid to buy TikTok. | BGNES