TikTok Deal Has China’s Blessing, Trump Says After Xi Call
(Bloomberg) — President Donald Trump said that his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping had given approval to a sale of TikTok’s US operations to American investors, though he acknowledged that some final steps still need to be worked out.
“I had a great call with President Xi and as you know, and approved the TikTok deal, and we’re in the process,” Trump told reporters at the White House hours after speaking with the Chinese leader. “We look forward to getting that deal closed.”
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Both the US and China have indicated that more work needs to be done to iron out final differences on a proposal for Beijing-based ByteDance Ltd. to divest its majority stake in the video-sharing platform in the US. In a statement earlier Friday, China’s foreign ministry stopped short of saying that Beijing had given its final blessing and urged fair treatment of Chinese interests.
“China’s position on the TikTok issue is clear: The Chinese government respects the wishes of the company in question, and would be happy to see productive commercial negotiations in keeping with market rules lead to a solution that complies with China’s laws and regulations and takes into account the interests of both sides,” the ministry said in a translation provided by the embassy in Washington. “The U.S. side needs to provide an open, fair and non-discriminatory environment for Chinese investors.”
The call between Trump and Xi came days after US and Chinese negotiators announced a framework deal for ByteDance to sell its US-based TikTok operations to an American buyers group. Officials from both sides have offered few details on the tentative accord, aimed at keeping the app running in the US and avoid a ban on national security grounds under a law signed in 2024 by then-President Joe Biden.
Trump has floated the idea of the US receiving what he described on Thursday as “a ‘fee plus’ for just making the deal.” Details of that fee structure, including the percentage the government might take, remained unclear. On Friday, the president declined to say whether the US would get a seat on the board of the new US venture.
Bloomberg has previously reported that a group of American buyers including Oracle Corp., Andreessen Horowitz and private equity firm Silver Lake Management LLC would take control of a new US version of the app. It’s unclear whether ByteDance or the new US-based venture would control TikTok’s lucrative recommendation software — a key sticking point for China, which has balked at the transfer of what it considers critical technology.
Under the framework agreement, Oracle would continue providing cloud services for TikTok, a business that’s become a steady source of revenue for the Austin-based company. Oracle already works with TikTok to host user data in the US and other countries as part of a multibillion-dollar partnership TikTok has dubbed Project Texas.
Shares of Oracle rose 4% in trading Friday, outpacing gains in the broader market.
Spokespeople for TikTok, Oracle, Andreessen and Silver Lake didn’t respond to requests for comment. In a statement, ByteDance thanked Trump and Xi, pledging to “proceed with relevant work in accordance with Chinese law, ensuring that TikTok US continues to serve American users well.”
President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping had a lengthy phone call Friday morning. Trump says they made progress on important issues including trade, fentanyl, the war in Ukraine and moving toward a final deal over TikTok. Trump says they will meet in person next month at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea. Bloomberg’s Tyler Kendall reports from the White House.Source: Bloomberg
Another unknown surrounding the deal includes the price tag attached to one of ByteDance’s most lucrative businesses. TikTok’s US operations have been valued at about $35 billion to $40 billion, though tech valuations have climbed rapidly with the advent of the AI boom.
To buy additional time to complete a sale, Trump this week extended the deadline for ByteDance to divest for another three months to Dec. 16, the fourth such reprieve he’s granted since taking office. Those extensions are on shaky legal ground, as the 2024 law allows for only one.
Earlier this week, news of a tentative agreement drew criticism from Congress, including from members of Trump’s own party who say it fails to abide by the national security law that required ByteDance to divest. Their objections signal that the issue may not be fully resolved on Capitol Hill, though it’s unclear whether lawmakers have a path for blocking the deal.
Since TikTok use exploded in the US early in the pandemic, lawmakers and government officials have raised concerns that China might use the app to gather sensitive information about Americans and push content that divides them. Toward the end of his first term in office, Trump tried, but failed, to force a sale of the app or ban it over these worries.
Lawmakers across the political spectrum this week emphasized the need for a TikTok deal to prohibit any operational relationship between ByteDance and the new US TikTok app, including its algorithm and data. Representative John Moolenaar, the Republican chairman of the House Select Committee on China, said in a post on X that he plans on “discussing these issues with the transaction parties to ensure any deal adheres to the law’s legal requirements.”
Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal said “Congress should scrutinize this deal to make sure Beijing-based ByteDance cannot be allowed to control or influence TikTok’s recommendation algorithm or user data.” In August, the White House created a TikTok account and Trump said any national security concerns were highly overrated.
It’s unclear how the geopolitical landscape, artificial intelligence race and US-China trade issues might affect the agreed-upon plan between now and the next TikTok deadline in December. This week, China ordered ByteDance and other Chinese firms to stop buying Nvidia Corp. chips that can be repurposed for AI uses after accusing the American company of breaking anti-monopoly laws.
—With assistance from Jacob Gu, Kurt Wagner, Jamie Tarabay and Michelle Jamrisko.
(Updates with adds on Oracle shares, possible TikTok price, additional Trump remarks starting in 6th paragraph)
