Trump's TikTok deal payment criticized as 'shakedown scheme' by experts

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The Trump administration recently approached a coalition of U.S. investors set to take over TikTok's U.S. operations with an ask: Will the group make a payment to the federal government "in the low billions," according to a person with direct knowledge of the talks.

The response from the investors, which includes tech mogul Larry Ellison, the Murdochs and venture capital heavyweight Andreessen Horowitz, was an unequivocal yes.

"Not a single member balked," said the person, who was not authorized to speak publicly. "They see it as something of a finders' fee."

Welcome to President Trump's new business agenda: extracting payments as if the federal government is brokering deals like a white-shoe consulting firm fueled by lucrative "fees for service."

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Whether it's the U.S. taking 15% of Nvidia and AMD's chip sales to China, the federal government securing a "golden share" in U.S. Steel or the Trump administration reportedly seeking an equity stake in Lithium Americas as part of a government loan negotiation, the White House is on a campaign of squeezing businesses with few parallels in modern history.

"At a minimum, this now means there is a tax imposed on every major business transaction," said Luigi Zingales, a professor of finance at the University of Chicago.