TikTok Deal to Be Finalized Thursday as Trump, Xi Prepare to Meet in South Korea

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday that the long-awaited deal allowing TikTok to continue operating in the United States is set to be finalized Thursday, when President Donald Trump meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea.

“We reached a final deal on TikTok,” Bessent said on CBS’s Face the Nation. “All the details are ironed out, and that will be for the two leaders to consummate that transaction on Thursday in Korea.”

Bessent, speaking from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, said the agreement came after two days of intensive negotiations with Chinese officials. “My remit was to get the Chinese to agree to approve the transaction, and I believe we successfully accomplished that,” he said.

The deal, announced in principle last month, fulfills an executive order Trump signed requiring ByteDance, TikTok’s Beijing-based parent company, to divest its U.S. operations or face a nationwide ban. Congress passed the bipartisan Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act in April 2024, giving TikTok 120 days to comply.

Under the structure outlined by the White House, the new TikTok entity will be a U.S.-based joint venture with a majority of American investors and a board composed mostly of U.S. citizens. ByteDance and its affiliates will retain less than a 20% stake, while a consortium of U.S. investors — including Oracle, co-founded by Larry Ellison — will hold a significant share.

Trump has said Xi previously “signed off” on the arrangement in a phone call, describing it as a “qualified divestiture” that ensures TikTok’s continued availability in the U.S. while protecting national security interests.

Still, some lawmakers remain skeptical. Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Mich., chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, said Sunday he is uneasy about ByteDance maintaining any ownership stake.

“As long as the Chinese are involved, I think there’s reason for distrust,” Moolenaar said on Face the Nation. “The Chinese report to the Chinese Communist Party, and they will leverage every advantage they get.”

Moolenaar added that he trusts the administration’s intent to comply with the law but cautioned against complacency. “The president has set a goal of making this available to the American people, following the law that was passed in a bipartisan way, and I trust that they are doing that,” he said.

Trump began his three-country Asia trip Sunday in Malaysia, with additional stops planned in South Korea and Japan. His meeting with Xi is expected to cover not only the TikTok agreement but also trade and fentanyl trafficking concerns.

J. Williams

J. Williams (Jimmy Williams) is the editor of Poli Alert, where he leads coverage of Congress, the White House, the courts and the elections shaping communities across the country. A graduate of Coppin State University in Maryland, he has spent years as a writer and social media manager for multiple outlets. His focus is breaking political news down in plain language so readers know exactly what is happening and how it affects them. Reach him at [email protected].

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