President Trump indicated on Friday that a deal aimed at separating the popular social media platform TikTok from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, had received approval from China’s top leader, Xi Jinping.
“He approved the TikTok deal,” Mr. Trump told reporters at the White House. However, he also noted that further work was required to finalize the agreement and offered little specific information regarding its structure. “We have to get it signed,” he stated.
“The TikTok deal is progressing well,” he added, expressing anticipation for its conclusion.
These comments followed an earlier post on Truth Social, the social media platform owned by Mr. Trump, published after his phone conversation with Mr. Xi.
Mr. Trump wrote, “The call was a very good one, we will be speaking again by phone, appreciate the TikTok approval.” He further mentioned, “we made progress on many very important issues” including the TikTok deal’s approval, without providing additional specifics.
A statement from a Chinese state-run news agency regarding the call was similarly non-committal, though Mr. Xi seemed to favor a commercial resolution for TikTok. The report stated that Mr. Xi affirmed the Chinese government’s respect for “the wishes of the company in question and is glad to see business negotiations in line with market rules and a solution that conforms to Chinese laws and regulations and takes into account the interests of both sides.”
TikTok’s future in the United States has been uncertain since January, when a federal law mandated that the company find a non-Chinese owner or face a ban. This legislation aimed to address national security concerns that the app’s ownership could potentially allow Beijing to spread propaganda or collect sensitive user data. Mr. Trump has granted four extensions to this deadline.
For months, ByteDance has been in discussions to transfer TikTok’s American operations into a new entity and to bring in new U.S. investors, such as the software giant Oracle, to reduce its Chinese ownership and meet legal requirements. The lineup of other potential investors has reportedly been fluid, according to two sources familiar with the talks.
Investors have also reportedly been discussing a multibillion-dollar transaction fee to the U.S. government as part of the arrangement, four individuals familiar with the negotiations disclosed.
Mr. Trump’s remarks seemed to align with this proposed framework for the deal.
“These are American investors, all of them, and they all love our country. They’re all very well known people, very famous people, actually, financially,” he affirmed.
In a Friday statement, ByteDance expressed gratitude to both leaders for “their efforts to preserve TikTok in the United States.” The company committed to “work in accordance with applicable laws to ensure TikTok remains available to American users through TikTok U.S.”
The app’s fate has also become intertwined with broader U.S.-China trade negotiations, where both nations have been debating tariffs, China’s mineral supply, and other economic issues. In his Truth Social post, Mr. Trump announced plans to meet Mr. Xi at a South Korea summit this fall and visit China early next year, with Mr. Xi reciprocating.
Historically, Mr. Trump has announced significant deals that did not fully materialize. This year, he has heralded several trade agreements, only for some foreign partners to later dispute the terms. Some, like the trade agreements he announced with Vietnam and South Korea in July, are still pending.
His past deals with China have also faced similar challenges. In 2020, the president announced a trade agreement where China pledged to purchase an additional $200 billion worth of American goods and services by 2021. However, a 2022 analysis of trade data revealed that China had acquired only 57 percent of the promised exports.
In his comments and social media post on Friday, Mr. Trump did not explicitly address the core national security concerns that have fueled a six-year debate over whether the hugely popular app should be permitted on American smartphones.
Central to this debate is the control of TikTok’s proprietary algorithm, which tracks user choices in video consumption and tailors new recommendations accordingly. This algorithm is often considered TikTok’s most valuable asset, as it effectively keeps users engaged with the app.
Chinese law dictates that this algorithm must remain under Chinese control. Yet, the U.S. law requiring American ownership of TikTok’s U.S. operations was specifically intended to prevent China from using this algorithm to disseminate disinformation or misinformation within the United States.
Mr. Trump assured reporters, “It’s all being worked out. We’re going to have very good control.” He then stated that the American investors “they’ll have control of it.”
However, these statements left it ambiguous whether he was referring to control over the newly formed American company or the specific algorithm it utilizes.
Earlier this week, Mr. Trump hinted that the United States would receive a “tremendous fee” for facilitating the deal. If this materializes, it would be another instance of government involvement in corporate transactions. In recent months, the Trump administration has negotiated for and obtained a 10 percent stake in Intel, and a “golden share” in U.S. Steel as part of its sale to Nippon Steel.
When questioned about a potential fee on Friday, Mr. Trump responded, “it hasn’t been fully negotiated, but we’ll get something.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent first revealed that the United States had a “framework” for a deal to ensure TikTok’s continued operation in the country during a news conference in Madrid on Monday.
Chinese officials had previously vowed to oppose any forced sale of TikTok, and in 2020, they updated their export control list to include technologies such as algorithms and source codes.
Li Chenggang, China’s vice minister of commerce, stated in Madrid on Monday that China agreed to the TikTok deal with the United States because “this consensus serves the interests of both sides,” according to Chinese state media.
On Tuesday, just a day before TikTok’s deadline to separate from ByteDance, Mr. Trump granted a fourth extension this year, pushing the deadline to mid-December. With the president’s suggestion on Friday that a deal has been approved, this extension could potentially be the final one.