US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday ordering the creation of a sovereign wealth fund within the next year, saying it could potentially buy the Chinese-owned short video app TikTok.
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If created, the sovereign wealth fund could place the US alongside numerous other countries, particularly in the Middle East and Asia, that have launched similar funds as a way to make direct investments with government dollars.
Trump offered little in the way of detail and it was unclear how such a wealth fund would work. Typically such funds rely on a country’s budget surplus to make investments, but the US operates at a deficit. Its creation also would be likely to require approval from Congress.
“We’re going to create a lot of wealth for the fund,” Trump told reporters. “And I think it’s about time that this country had a sovereign wealth fund.”
Trump had previously floated such a government investment vehicle as a presidential candidate, saying it could fund “great national endeavours” including infrastructure projects such as highways and airports, manufacturing and medical research.
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In another surprise twist, Trump suggested the wealth fund could buy TikTok, whose fate has been up in the air since a law requiring its Chinese owner ByteDance to either sell it on national security grounds or face a ban took effect on January 19.