President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order officially finalizing the deal with China over the popular social media app TikTok.
Trump said from the Oval Office that he had great conversations with Chinese leader Xi Jinping about TikTok, who gave the “go-ahead” on the deal.
Trump has consistently praised TikTok users. He said in a recent post online that he had a “soft spot” for the app because he credits the platform and its young users with helping him win the 2024 presidential election.
On Thursday, he noted the youth effort around his campaign and said he was “a little bit prejudiced” about getting the deal across the finish line.
Trump said he was satisfied with the deal and had no security concerns because it would be owned by “sophisticated Americans” who love the country.
“This is going to be American operated all the way,” he said. “And great respect for President Xi, and I very much appreciate that he approved the deal, because to get it done properly, we really needed the support of China.”
The deal was months in the making. Trump and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt have hinted in recent days that the deal was nearing completion.
Leavitt confirmed Monday that TikTok would be owned by a majority of American investors and controlled by a board of directors. The board will have experience in national security and cybersecurity and work “in partnership” with the U.S. government.
The computer software company Oracle will be TikTok’s “trusted security provider” by monitoring Americans’ data and security on the app.
The app’s algorithm, which determines what users see in their feeds, will be retrained using U.S. data, and not controlled by the platform’s parent company, ByteDance. American users, however, won’t see much change and will still be able to see — and share — videos with people from around the world.
Trump was asked by a reporter if the new algorithm would suggest more “MAGA-related content” or prioritize it in Americans’ feeds. The president joked that he “always” likes MAGA-related content and would make it “100% MAGA-related” if he could.
“Unfortunately, no. Everyone’s going to be treated fairly. Every group, every philosophy, every policy, will be treated very fairly,” Trump said.
Vice President JD Vance also celebrated the efforts in the Oval Office Thursday. Vance said initially there was “some resistance” from Chinese leaders, but the administration was successful in keeping the app operating for Americans while also protecting their data.
“It’s not going to be used as a propaganda weapon against our fellow citizens,” Vance said. “We’re very excited about it.”
Much of the deal’s details are still unknown to the public, but about 80% of the platform will be made into a U.S. joint venture owned by Oracle and investment firm Silver Lake Partners, The Associated Press reported.
ByteDance is expected to have about 20% stake in the company and one seat on the new U.S. board of investors. While the board will be independent from the government, it will be Trump-adjacent, with owners who have close connections to the president including Larry Ellison, Oracle co-founder, and Rupert Murdoch, the AP reported.
The executive order offers an answer, at least for now, to the app’s fate, which had been up in the air for months.
Last year, the U.S. ordered ByteDance to reach a deal and sell TikTok or it would be shut down in the United States. The ban was passed by Congress and the Supreme Court upheld the legislation.
In January, the ban deadline forced the app to go dark for American users temporarily. But upon taking office, Trump pushed the deadline to April. The president then signed several more extensions for the TikTok ban deadline, punting it first to June and then September.
Officials on both sides of the aisle were concerned that Americans’ data was being shared with the Chinese government when they used TikTok, and that the algorithm was used for underhanded purposes.
Several U.S. companies put forth bids to buy the app, including Microsoft and Amazon.
Reid Ranser, one interested buyer, previously told the Deseret News that it was frustrating to have yet another delay on the app’s purchase. Tomicah Tillemann, the president of Project Liberty, another company that wanted to be TikTok’s U.S. owner, said he was eager for a deal to be made.
