President Donald Trump has announced a deal with China to continue allowing the app to operate in the U.S. Trump said he would talk to Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday to confirm the details of an agreement.
TikTok’s future in the U.S. had been uncertain ever since a bill was passed which could potentially ban the app in the country unless its U.S. operations were divested from Chinese parent company ByteDance. Lawmakers had cited security concerns while passing this bill.
Trump told reporters on Tuesday that there was a “group of very big companies” that wanted to buy TikTok.
Trump also signed an executive order extending the deadline for ByteDance to divest or face a ban to December 16. The deadline had already been extended multiple times in the past.
READ: ByteDance eyes $330 billion valuation amid uncertainty over TikTok in US (
China’s People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Communist Party, praised the deal, saying “China’s commitment to safeguarding national interests and the legitimate rights of Chinese enterprises remains unwavering. It will lawfully process matters such as technology export approvals and intellectual property licensing rights related to TikTok.”
According to CNBC’s sources, an agreement has been reached, which includes new investors as well as existing investors in the platform’s Chinese parent company ByteDance. This deal is expected to close within 30-45 days. Oracle will keep its cloud deal with the platform, as per the agreement.
“Where this thing is capitalized and how large it is remains to be seen,” CNBC’s David Faber said, after talking to sources, who asked to remain confidential. “I’m hearing it’s actually going to be relatively small in terms of the actual size of the checks that are written for the entity itself, and it will not be something that is going to go public at some point.”
READ: Oracle could act as a bridge for deal between TikTok and Trump (
A senior White House official, however, said that the details of the deal were “pure speculation” unless announced by the administration.
TikTok has been facing legal scrutiny since earlier this year, after the Supreme Court upheld the law requiring the app to divest from ByteDance or face a potential ban. Since then, there have been multiple deadline extensions and negotiations.
The new details about the deal come after the U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday that the U.S. and China have reached a “framework” deal for TikTok. Oracle is expected to act as a “bridge” between TikTok and Trump for the deal. Trump has previously said he’d be open to Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison buying TikTok in the U.S.