US President Donald Trump on Thursday cleared a major hurdle for TikTok’s future in the United States, signing an executive order that says a proposed agreement to bring the app under US ownership addresses national security concerns.
The move could allow TikTok, owned by China’s ByteDance, to keep operating in the US, a lifeline for the wildly popular video platform that faced a possible nationwide ban.
Trump told reporters that Chinese President Xi Jinping had signed off on the arrangement. “They’re on board,” he said. Asked about his own vision for the app, Trump quipped that he would make an American-controlled TikTok “100% MAGA” if he could, but added, “every philosophy, every policy” would be “treated right.”
Vice President JD Vance stressed that the deal would ensure American investors control the algorithm that shapes what users see. “We don’t want this used as a propaganda tool by any foreign government,” Vance said. “We actually want everybody to access this, whether they’re MAGA or not. We just want it to be fair.”
The future of TikTok has been in limbo since last year, when President Joe Biden signed legislation requiring ByteDance to sell the platform’s US assets to an American buyer or face a ban. Trump has since issued multiple orders extending TikTok’s operations while negotiations continue.
TikTok has 170 million users in the US, including 15 million who follow Trump’s personal account. The president has credited the app with boosting his reelection last year, and the White House launched its own TikTok account just last month.
STRUCTURE OF THE PROPOSED DEAL
According to the White House, TikTok would be spun into a new US joint venture dominated by American investors, with Oracle and Silver Lake among those lined up.
US investors are expected to hold about 80 per cent of the company, leaving ByteDance with a stake of 20 per cent or less. Governance would also tilt toward American control, with most board seats reserved for US investors and just one for ByteDance, excluded from national security committees.
Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, a Trump ally who remains active as chairman and chief technology officer, is a central figure. He recently helped finance Skydance’s USD 8 billion Paramount merger, led by his son David. Media mogul Rupert Murdoch and Dell founder Michael Dell are also expected to be investors in the venture.
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