President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order directing the U.S. to take steps to start developing a government-owned investment fund that he said could be used to profit off of TikTok if he’s successful at finding it an American buyer.

Trump signed an order on his first day office to grant TikTok until early April to find an approved partner or buyer, but he’s said he’s looking for the U.S. to take a 50% stake in the massive social media platform. He said Monday in the Oval Office that TikTok, which is owned by China-based ByteDance, was an example of what he could put in a new U.S. sovereign wealth fund.

“We might put that in the sovereign wealth fund, whatever we make or we do a partnership with very wealthy people, a lot of options,” he said of TikTok. “But we could put that as an example in the fund. We have a lot of other things that we could put in the fund.”

Sovereign wealth funds invest in assets, such as stocks, bonds and real estate. They are typically funded by a country’s budgetary surpluses, which the U.S. currently does not have.

Trump noted many other nations have such investment funds and predicted that the U.S. could eventually top Saudi Arabia’s fund size. “Eventually we’ll catch it,” he promised.

There are over 90 sovereign wealth funds around the world that mange over $8 trillion in assets, according to The International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds, a London-based organization made up of roughly 50 of these entities.

In the U.S., more than 20 sovereign wealth funds exist at the state level, according to analysis from the Center for Global Development, a Washington-based nonpartisan think-tank. The largest ones — based in Alaska, New Mexico and Texas — are financed through revenue that comes from oil, gas and mineral proceeds and used to fund in-state programs, such as education.

The president put Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Howard Lutnick, Trump’s pick for Commerce Secretary, in charge of laying the groundwork for creating a the fund, which would likely require congressional approval.

Bessent said the administration’s goal was to have the fund open within the next 12 months, and Lutnick said another use of the fund could have been for the government to take an profit-earning stake in vaccine manufacturers.

“The extraordinary size and scale of the U.S government and the business it does with companies should create value for American citizens,” Lutnick told reporters.

TikTok was supposed to be banned in the U.S. last month under a federal law that forces ByteDance to divest its stakes or face a ban.

After taking office, Trump, who had attempted to ban the popular app during his first term, directed the Justice Department to pause enforcement of the law for 75 days. The reprieve has given the company more time to work out a deal with the administration.

Several other investors — including billionaire Frank McCourt and Trump’s former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin — have spoken publicly about their desire to purchase TikTok’s U.S. platform. Trump has said “many people” had also reached out to him privately about it. Last week, he said Microsoft was one of the U.S. companies eyeing the social media platform.

— Associated Press

Bessent put in charge of consumer bureau

President Donald Trump has put Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in charge of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on an acting basis.

Two days after firing Rohit Chopra, who was nominated by former President Joe Biden and was serving a five-year term that was set to end in late 2026, Trump named Bessent as the bureau’s acting director.

Soon after he was named, Bessent ordered the bureau’s staff to pause much of its work, according to an email that was sent to staff members and was seen by The New York Times. Employees were instructed not to issue or approve any proposed or final rules, and were also told to suspend all final rules that have been issued but that have not yet become effective, according to the email.

Staff members were also instructed not to start new enforcement investigations or continue working on those that were in process. The bureau did not respond to a request for comment.

Trump tariff plan takes toll on crypto

Cryptocurrency prices took a hit from the prospect of a trade war between the U.S. and its major trading partners, with some well-known digital assets and President Donald Trump’s own meme coin taking big hits.

The price of bitcoin started falling from about $105,000 shortly after Trump announced plans Saturday to start putting large tariffs on goods from Canada, Mexico and China.

The world’s most popular cryptocurrency fell to about $92,000 Sunday night before rebounding back over $100,000 Monday afternoon following Trump’s announcement of a pause on the tariffs on Mexican goods. He later announced a similar pause on tariffs against Canadian goods.

— From news services