President Donald Trump likes TikTok but the Chinese-owned short video app, used by some 170 million Americans, has to move to U.S. ownership, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said on Sunday.

"The President really likes TikTok, and he said it over and over again, because, you know, it was a good way to communicate with young people," Lutnick said in an interview on Fox News Sunday with Shannon Bream.

"But let's face it, you can't have the Chinese have an app on 100 million American phones, that is just not okay. So, it's got to move to American ownership, it's got to move to American technology, American algorithms," he said. "I know the President is positive towards TikTok, if it can move into American hands."