A ban on TikTok in the United States has been temporarily put on hold.

CNN Business quoted US President Donald Trump telling reporters on Sep. 19 that he had approved a deal "in concept", involving ByteDance, TikTok's China-based parent company, and two US companies, Oracle and Wal-Mart.

"I have given the deal my blessing," Trump told the media before his departure on campaign travel.

Trump's backing comes after he first spoke about banning TikTok in late July, citing national security concerns, later setting a deadline for TikTok to be bought over by an American company by Sep. 15.

Restrictions on app availability delayed

The US Commerce Department also announced on Sep. 19 that restrictions initially scheduled to kick in today, Sep. 20, have been delayed for a week, according to CNN Business.

Those restrictions would have required the popular video sharing app to be removed from app stores in the US from Sep. 20, CNN Business explained, although existing US users would still be able to access — but not update — their apps.

Details of the deal

While Trump has given the green light for the agreement between the three companies, it has yet to be confirmed.

"If they get it done, that's great. If they don't, that's okay, too," Trump reportedly said.

Oracle confirmed in a statement to CNN Business that the deal will involve Oracle and Wal-Mart owning up to 20 per cent of a new entity, TikTok Global.

The entity will involve Oracle as a "trusted technology provider" who will host US user data and run TikTok systems in the Oracle Cloud, among other security requirements.

Meanwhile, Wal-Mart's involvement is for "a commercial partnership", the statement said.

This means that ByteDance would retain majority ownership over TikTok.

Deal includes fund for US education

Trump also said that the deal includes a US$5 billion (S$7.06 billion) fund for US education.

He did not specify which of the three companies would be making the payment, however.

Trump had earlier insisted on the US getting "a lot of money" out of the TikTok deal, though it was critiqued by experts as being illegal, "akin to extortion", and "just something that Trump came up with".

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Top image via the White House Facebook page and Kon Karampelas/Unsplash