Trump Sells TikTok US Operations to Allies with Chinese Approval
Donald Trump has formalized the terms for the sale of TikTok’s U.S. operations through an executive order, transferring majority ownership to several of his prominent supporters. Under this directive, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, will retain only a minority stake, specifically "less than 20%." From the Oval Office, the former U.S. president announced that the American iteration of the popular short-video platform would be managed by what he termed "highly sophisticated" investors. This group notably includes tech giant Oracle's head, Larry Ellison, Dell founder Michael Dell, and media mogul Rupert Murdoch. Reports also indicate that investment firm Silver Lake Partners and Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz are expected to be part of this significant deal.
While the new investors are known allies of Donald Trump and largely share his political ideologies, the former president emphasized that the app would not exhibit any partisan bias. He stated, "Every group, every philosophy, every policy will be treated very fairly." However, he also candidly conceded that, if given complete control, he would have preferred the social network to be "100% MAGA" ("Make America Great Again"), referencing his political movement. Crucially, the U.S. version of TikTok is confirmed to utilize a copy of the app's core algorithm, which is widely regarded as pivotal to its global success. U.S. Vice President JD Vance confirmed that the fundamental goal behind this restructuring was "to keep TikTok running, while ensuring that we protect Americans' data privacy, in accordance with the law."
This executive order follows a period of intense scrutiny and pressure on TikTok in the U.S. Last spring, TikTok had already taken preemptive measures in response to American concerns, including reducing staff within its local TikTok teams and its e-commerce venture, TikTok Shop. TikTok Shop has grown to boast over 500,000 active merchants in the American market, which has also served as a testing ground before its expansion into Europe. Broader concerns stemmed from Congress, which feared that Chinese authorities could access U.S. users' data or manipulate the app's algorithm to influence public opinion. In 2024, Congress passed legislation compelling TikTok to divest from ByteDance, under threat of a complete ban. Donald Trump had repeatedly extended the deadline for a takeover agreement, with the latest executive order setting the new deadline to January 23, 2026. This issue has also resonated internationally, with two French MPs launching an inquiry in March into the psychological effects of the short-video platform on minors.
JD Vance, a former venture capitalist who led the team tasked with finding a resolution for TikTok, indicated that the U.S. entity would be valued at approximately $14 billion, although he noted that the final valuation would ultimately rest with the investors. Addressing the crucial question of approval from Chinese authorities, Donald Trump confirmed that Chinese President Xi Jinping had given his assent during a phone call the previous week. Trump expressed significant respect for President Xi, stating, "I very much appreciate that he approved the deal, because to get it done, we really needed China's support."
However, the call also saw President Xi Jinping urge his U.S. counterpart to avoid "unilateral" trade restrictions and to maintain a "non-discriminatory" environment for Chinese companies, as reported by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV. This sentiment was echoed by Beijing's Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Guo Jiakun, who told reporters, "We hope the US will provide an open, fair and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese companies investing in the US," following the signing of the executive order. When contacted by Agence France-Presse (AFP), both ByteDance and TikTok did not immediately provide a comment on the developments.
