The United States and China have reached a deal to allow TikTok to continue operating in America, President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday.
The agreement, centered on transferring TikTok’s US assets to American ownership, comes just ahead of a looming deadline to sell or shut down the app.
Trump confirmed at a White House briefing that “a group of very big companies” would take over TikTok’s US assets from China’s ByteDance. While he did not name the buyers, sources said the deal closely resembles terms discussed earlier this year.
The White House also extended its divestiture deadline to December 16, giving ByteDance 90 more days to finalize the transfer.
Ownership structure and investors
Under the proposed framework, ByteDance will retain a 19.9% stake, just below the 20% threshold, while a US-led consortium will control 80%.
The group of investors is expected to include ByteDance’s current shareholders Susquehanna International Group (SIG), General Atlantic, and KKR, alongside new backers such as Andreessen Horowitz, Oracle, and Silver Lake. Oracle will also continue its existing cloud partnership with TikTok.
Reports suggest the new US entity will have an American-dominated board, with one member designated by the US government—a model similar to the Nippon Steel–U.S. Steel deal.
Legal and political context
The deal is tied to a 2024 law passed under the Biden administration, which mandated TikTok’s divestiture over national security concerns. Lawmakers feared Beijing could access US user data or use TikTok for influence campaigns.
While Congress may still need to approve the arrangement, Trump’s administration has repeatedly extended deadlines rather than shutting the platform down—partly to avoid backlash from TikTok’s 170 million American users.
Trump himself has leaned on TikTok as a political tool, crediting the app with boosting his re-election and amassing 15 million followers on his account.
Trade tensions and delayed progress
Negotiations over TikTok were delayed earlier this year after Trump announced new tariffs on Chinese goods, sparking Beijing’s pushback. The new agreement suggests both sides are willing to separate trade disputes from the app’s future.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC the commercial terms had been “essentially done since March,” with only technical details left. CNBC further reported the deal could close within 30 to 45 days.
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