Washington: US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order finalizing the terms of a long-anticipated deal to transfer TikTok into American ownership.
The agreement, reached after talks between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, will allow TikTok to continue operating in the US while severing its ties with its Chinese parent company, ByteDance.
Under the plan, American investors will control roughly 80 percent of the newly created US entity, while ByteDance and Chinese investors will retain less than 20 percent. “This is going to be American-operated all the way,” Trump declared at a White House press conference.
The new US company, valued at $14 billion, will be governed by a seven-member board consisting mostly of national security and cybersecurity experts. Six of the directors will be American. By contrast, ByteDance is estimated to be overall worth $330 billion, underscoring the far smaller valuation of the US spin-off.
Oracle, the US software giant, will take the lead in overseeing TikTok’s American operations and cloud infrastructure while also licensing control of the app’s algorithm. Other prominent investors include Oracle’s co-founder Larry Ellison, media mogul Rupert Murdoch, and Dell Technologies CEO Michael Dell. According to the White House, ByteDance and Chinese officials will have no access to American user data.
President Donald J. Trump and @VP Vance SAVE TikTok from a ban while protecting America’s national security by removing TikTok in the U.S. from China’s control. 🇺🇸
THE ART OF THE DEAL. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/Khl8QRnhNi
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) September 25, 2025
TikTok, with an estimated 180 million American users, had faced a looming ban after Congress passed legislation last year compelling ByteDance to divest or exit the US market. The Supreme Court upheld that decision in January, but Trump postponed enforcement on his first day in office, citing a need for negotiations.
The president has credited TikTok with helping him reach younger voters during his successful 2024 campaign. When asked whether TikTok would prioritize MAGA-related content, Trump quipped, “I always like MAGA-related. If I could, I’d make it 100% MAGA-related,” but assured that the platform would continue to recommend a broad mix of content.
The TikTok deal marks another step in Trump’s push to exert greater US influence over the tech sector. Initially, Trump suggested that the US government would collect a special fee-plus from the deal, but on Thursday clarified that revenues will instead come through regular corporate taxes.
The deal follows high-level negotiations in Madrid, where US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese trade envoy Li Chengang reached a framework agreement. While Beijing confirmed its acceptance, it warned Washington against broader suppression of Chinese firms.
