President Donald Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested Monday his administration has reached a deal with China about TikTok that could keep it online, as the app faced its latest threat of going dark this week with Trump’s latest pause of a ban on the app.
Key Takeaways
- Trump said on Truth Social on Monday morning his administration’s trade discussions with China had gone “VERY WELL,” alleging “a deal was also reached on a ‘certain’ company that young people in our Country very much wanted to save” and saying those young people “will be very happy!”
- Bessent and other Trump officials met with Chinese officials Monday to discuss economic policy, tariffs and the TikTok deal, with Bessent telling reporters after the meeting that the two sides had reached a “framework” for a deal on TikTok.
- It’s still unclear what the deal will look like or how it could affect the app, including whether a potential buyer for TikTok has been found.
- Bessent told reporters the framework requires TikTok to switch to “U.S.-controlled ownership,” but it’s still unclear who that owner could be.
- Congress passed a law requiring TikTok to be banned if ByteDance didn’t divest itself from the app, citing national security concerns, but despite a ruling from the Supreme Court upholding the law, the popular app has so far remained online, as the Trump administration has repeatedly pushed back the deadline for the ban taking effect.
- The latest extension had been set to expire Wednesday, and it had been unclear if the app could go offline: Reuters reported the Trump administration was willing to cut off the app if negotiations didn’t go well, and Trump told reporters Sunday his administration “may let it die,” claiming the issue “doesn’t matter too much.”
Crucial Quote
The Trump administration wanted to ensure it made a deal on TikTok “that is fair for the Chinese, and completely respects national security concerns,” Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told reporters Monday. “And that’s the deal we reached.”
What To Watch For
Greer and Bessent told reporters Monday the new deal framework still needs to be approved by Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, who Trump said he’s scheduled to speak with on Friday, and said they would not “get ahead” of those talks by sharing further details about the deal framework in the meantime. The Trump administration may be willing to extend the deadline for the app to be banned in order to allow time for the deal to be approved and signed, officials suggested Monday, but would not extend it for longer than that. “We’re not going to be in the business of repetitive extensions,” Greer told reporters, with Bessent saying the pause “would not have been extended without a framework.”
Who Could Buy Tiktok?
It’s still unclear who could take ownership of TikTok in the U.S. as part of any deal with China, though a number of potential buyers have been floated in the months since the ban took effect. Trump told reporters in August the administration has “very substantial American buyers that want to buy” the app but did not single out any company specifically, though the president has previously suggested Microsoft was at one point a potential buyer, and more recently told Fox host Maria Bartiromo in June that a “group of very wealthy people” were in line to buy the app.
Reports also suggest the administration was in discussions with Oracle over buying TikTok, and Amazon put in a bid to buy the app in April, though The New York Times reports the Trump administration did “not appear to be taking Amazon’s bid seriously.” Others who have expressed interest in a potential TikTok deal include a consortium of investors led by billionaire Frank McCourt, social media influencer Jimmy Donaldson—better known as MrBeast—Perplexity AI, marketing platform AppLovin and conservative-leaning video platform Rumble.
Could A Deal Change Tiktok?
It’s unclear. ByteDance has repeatedly held in court filings that retaining control over TikTok and its algorithm is necessary to ensure the app will continue to function in the same way for users as it has in the past. Forcing ByteDance to divest itself from the app “would imperil the algorithm’s future functionality” and “fundamentally alter the content TikTok Inc. offers,” the Chinese-owned company claimed in a filing to the Supreme Court.
The change in ownership would only apply to TikTok’s U.S. operations, while other countries would continue to use the ByteDance-owned app. ByteDance has argued this would mean “U.S. TikTok would become an uncompetitive American ‘island’ isolated from the platform’s non-U.S. users and global content.”
It still remains to be seen whether those fears would actually happen in practice, however, and how any deal would impact TikTok’s algorithm and interaction with content made by users outside the U.S.
Key Background
Congress passed the law against TikTok in April 2024, reflecting longstanding concerns on both sides of the aisle that the app’s Chinese ownership presented national security concerns. TikTok has long denied any wrongdoing or influence from the Chinese government, though Forbes has reported on numerous concerns involving the app, including TikTok spying on journalists, promoting Chinese propaganda that criticized U.S. politicians, mishandling user data and tracking “sensitive” words.
After the Supreme Court upheld the ban on TikTok in January, the app briefly went offline in the U.S. before quickly returning amid assurances from Trump—who was about to be inaugurated—that he would try to save the app.
Trump has repeatedly expressed fondness for TikTok due to his own popularity on the app, and the White House joined TikTok in August.
Trump has repeatedly extended the deadline for the ban to take effect while he’s been in office, despite the legislation only allowing the president to impose one 90-day delay if there’s sufficient evidence of ByteDance moving forward with divesting.
ByteDance had long been resistant to divesting itself from TikTok, and the administration’s negotiations with Beijing over the app have reportedly been impacted by the Trump administration imposing additional tariffs on Chinese imports.
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