“As far as TikTok is concerned, we’re banning them from the United States,” Trump told reporters on Friday on Air Force One, adding he will “sign the document tomorrow.”

ByteDance did not immediately respond to CGTN’s request for comment. TikTok belongs to the Chinese group ByteDance and has nearly one billion users worldwide.

As TikTok’s second-largest user base, the US has seen an increase of 45 million new users in 2020 alone amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The app has been downloaded more than 165 million times on app stores, according to Sensor Tower data.

Just a few hours ago, reports said Microsoft was planning to acquire TikTok’s US operations.

Earlier, in response to Trump’s comments over a potential ban of TikTok, Chinese Foreign Ministry said certain politicians in the US should give up their prejudice against Chinese companies. China also slammed the United States as “the world’s real hacker empire.”

“Based on a decision made by the (coronavirus) task force, it is banned to export different types of face masks for the time being,” said Jamshid Golpour, head of the Industry and Trade Ministry’s Centre for Guilds and Businesspeople.

He further touched upon health protocols that make wearing masks obligatory and highlighted that some provinces are in a “red” state with regards to the COVID-19 outbreak.

He also urged people as well as the private and public sectors to contribute to efforts to contain the novel coronavirus.

“The Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade makes every effort to remove obstacles to production, especially those in the cycle of producing masks,” Golpour said, according to the Iranian government’s official website.

“Producers are expected to provide distribution networks with standard masks at already approved prices,” he stressed, adding that the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade supports the workshops producing masks.

Masks should also be offered for sale via online shops, he said.

Iran’s Health Ministry said on Monday that the number of people tested positive for COVID-19 infection in the country has risen to 243,051 and the death toll has reached 11,731.