The United States and China have struck a major deal to keep TikTok running in America, President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday. The agreement focuses on shifting TikTok’s US assets to American ownership, just ahead of a deadline that could have forced the app to shut down.
At a White House briefing, Trump said a group of “very big companies” will be taking over TikTok’s American assets from China’s ByteDance. Although he did not name the firms, sources revealed the plan matches earlier discussions. The White House has also extended the deadline to December 16, giving ByteDance 90 more days to complete the transfer.
Under the deal, ByteDance will keep a 19.9% stake, while a US-led group will control 80%. Investors include ByteDance’s current backers like SIG, General Atlantic, and KKR, along with new supporters such as Oracle, Silver Lake, and Andreessen Horowitz. Oracle will also continue its cloud services partnership with TikTok. The new company will have a board dominated by Americans, with one seat given to a US government representative.
The arrangement is linked to a 2024 law under the Biden administration that required TikTok’s divestiture over national security concerns. Lawmakers feared Chinese access to American user data or potential influence operations. While Congress may still need to approve the deal, Trump’s administration has chosen extensions over a shutdown, partly due to the app’s popularity with 170 million US users.
Trump himself has built a strong presence on TikTok, crediting the platform for boosting his political reach and helping him connect with over 15 million followers.
The deal also comes after months of trade tensions between Washington and Beijing. Negotiations were delayed earlier this year when Trump announced new tariffs on Chinese goods, sparking pushback from China. Now, both sides appear ready to move forward separately on TikTok, leaving wider trade disputes aside.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC the commercial terms were settled as early as March, with only technical details remaining. Reports suggest the deal could close within the next 30 to 45 days.
