US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he and Chinese President Xi Jinping have agreed on a path forward for TikTok’s operations in the United States during what he described as a "productive" phone call.
Trump’s comments suggest the two leaders endorsed a deal to transfer TikTok’s US business to a group of American investors, though Beijing has yet to confirm the arrangement.
Posting on Truth Social, Trump expressed appreciation for Xi’s approval and said they had made broader progress on trade issues. “We made progress,” Trump wrote, adding that both leaders planned to meet at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in South Korea in late October. Trump also said he would visit China early next year and that Xi would travel to the US "at an appropriate time."
China’s state news agency Xinhua offered a more cautious readout, quoting Xi as saying Beijing "welcomes negotiations over TikTok" but made no mention of an agreement. Xinhua reiterated China’s position that such talks should adhere to market rules and Chinese law, while urging Washington to ensure a fair business environment for Chinese firms operating in the US.
TikTok, owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, has faced increasing scrutiny in Washington over alleged national security concerns. Earlier this year, the US Supreme Court upheld legislation mandating ByteDance to divest its American operations or face a nationwide ban. While TikTok briefly went offline, Trump has repeatedly delayed the ban, most recently pushing the deadline to December.
The new deal, which has yet to be finalised, would reportedly see companies like Oracle—co-founded by Trump ally Larry Ellison—take over TikTok's US operations. However, key questions remain unresolved, particularly over ownership of the platform’s content recommendation algorithm, which plays a central role in engaging TikTok’s 170 million American users.
When asked whether a new American buyer would need to build a fresh algorithm or license the current one from ByteDance, Trump declined to answer directly. "We’ll have very tight control,” he told reporters, adding that the app has “tremendous value” and the investors involved “are among the greatest in the world.”
ByteDance released a statement on Friday saying it would work "in accordance with applicable laws" to keep TikTok running in the US. The company also thanked both presidents for their "efforts to preserve TikTok in the United States.”
Despite signs of cooperation, resistance is growing in Congress. Michigan Republican John Moolenar, chair of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, warned that a licensing deal involving ByteDance’s algorithm could maintain the Chinese Communist Party’s influence. “I am concerned the reported licensing deal may involve ongoing reliance…that could allow continued CCP control or influence,” he said.
The Biden-era Justice Department previously called TikTok a national security threat of "immense depth and scale" due to concerns over Chinese access to American user data.
While Trump once pushed for a total ban on TikTok during his first term, his stance has shifted, with the platform now seen as a vital tool in his 2024 presidential campaign.
This is the second direct call between Trump and Xi this year. In June, the two discussed China’s export of rare earth minerals, culminating in a limited agreement to approve certain export permits to the US. Other contentious issues—such as Chinese agricultural purchases and tech-related tariffs—remain unresolved, though both sides have held back from imposing more severe trade restrictions.
As the negotiations over TikTok continue, the deal could reshape not just the platform’s future in the US, but also signal a temporary easing in broader US-China tech tensions.
Source: BBC
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