President Trump indicated on Friday that a deal concerning TikTok’s separation from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, has received approval from China’s top leader, Xi Jinping. This comes after a call between the two leaders.
In a post on Truth Social, Mr. Trump stated, “The call was a very good one, we will be speaking again by phone, appreciate the TikTok approval.” He did not provide further details on what this approval specifically entails.
A statement from China’s state-run news agency echoed the general sentiment but remained vague. Mr. Xi reportedly expressed support for a commercial resolution for TikTok, emphasizing that the Chinese government “respects the wishes of companies and welcomes them to conduct commercial negotiations based on market rules and reach solutions that comply with Chinese laws and regulations and balance interests.”
TikTok’s operational status in the United States has been uncertain since January, when a federal law mandated the company to find a non-Chinese owner or face a nationwide ban. This legislation aimed to address national security concerns that the app could potentially be used by Beijing for propaganda or to gather sensitive American user data. Mr. Trump has extended the deadline for this transition four times.
For several months, ByteDance has been in discussions to divest TikTok’s American operations into a new entity, bringing in new U.S. investors like software giant Oracle, to diminish its Chinese ownership and meet legal requirements. The roster of potential investors has reportedly been fluid.
On Thursday, Mr. Trump revealed an additional aspect: that the United States would receive a “tremendous fee” for facilitating the deal. If this materializes, it would mark another instance of government involvement in corporate transactions. Recently, the Trump administration has brokered deals including a 10 percent stake in Intel and a “golden share” in U.S. Steel as part of its sale to Nippon Steel.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had initially announced a “framework” for a deal to keep TikTok operating in the United States during a news conference in Madrid earlier in the week.
Chinese officials had previously expressed opposition to a forced sale of TikTok, and in 2020, they updated their export control list to include technologies such as algorithms and source codes.
China opted to reach an agreement with the United States regarding TikTok because “this consensus serves the interests of both sides,” explained Li Chenggang, China’s vice minister of commerce, following a meeting with American officials in Madrid, according to reports in Chinese state media.
Just a day before TikTok’s deadline to separate from ByteDance on Tuesday, Mr. Trump granted a fourth extension this year, pushing the new deadline to mid-December. With the president’s recent suggestion of deal approval, this extension might ultimately be the final one.