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President Donald Trump has confirmed that he will begin negotiations with Chinese officials early next week over a potential deal for the sale of TikTok’s US operations.
Some shit you should know before you read: Last year, Congress passed the “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act” with bipartisan support, addressing widespread concerns about the potential national security risks posed by TikTok’s Chinese ownership. The law, later signed by President Biden, requires TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to either divest its US operations or face an outright ban, based on fears that the Chinese government could exploit the platform’s algorithm to manipulate information and access sensitive user data from millions of Americans. Since returning to office, President Trump has signed two orders giving extensions that allow TikTok to continue operating in the US until a buyer is found.
What’s going on now: While speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, President Trump confirmed that the United States will begin talks with China early next week regarding a potential deal for TikTok’s US operations. “We pretty much have a deal,” Trump said. “I think we’re gonna start Monday or Tuesday talking to China – perhaps President Xi or one of his representatives – but we pretty much have a deal.” Trump added that the deal will “probably” require approval from Beijing, though he stopped short of confirming it as a certainty. “Not definitely, but probably,” he said, before adding, “I think the deal is good for China, and it’s good for us. It’s money, it’s a lot of money.”
Trump has repeatedly stated that he already has a buyer lined up for TikTok’s US branch, though he has yet to publicly name the group. He only described the group as “very, very wealthy people.” Bloomberg has reported that the potential buyer may be a consortium including Oracle, Blackstone, and Andreessen Horowitz.
This all comes as reporting from the New York Post suggests that China is using TikTok as a bargaining chip in broader US-China trade negotiations. Sources speaking to the Post said that no deal for TikTok’s US operations will move forward until Chinese President Xi Jinping believes he has secured maximum leverage in talks with the White House. “TikTok is being used as a pawn,” one source told the Post, explaining that despite Trump’s eagerness to keep the platform running in the US, Beijing is withholding approval as part of a larger strategy tied to trade concessions.
