US President
Donald Trump is set to sign the TikTok deal on Thursday, a White House source confirmed, as reported by Reuters.
Last week, the US president held a lengthy phone call with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, during which they discussed TikTok, among other things, that he described as “productive.”
“I just completed a very productive call with President Xi of China. We made progress on many very important issues, including Trade, Fentanyl, the need to bring the War between Russia and Ukraine to an end, and the approval of the TikTok Deal,” he said through a post on Truth Social.
Negotiators from both countries now have until December 16 to finalize the terms, after the administration granted its latest extension.
In a prior interview with Fox News, Trump expressed optimism ahead of the call, saying the two sides were “very close to deals on all of it,” and confirmed, “it sounds like they’ve approved TikTok.” He also highlighted the app’s importance, noting its role in his presidential election campaign.
Trump previously suggested several high-profile billionaires, including media mogul Rupert Murdoch, his son and Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch, Dell Technologies founder Michael Dell, and Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, as potential participants in a plan for the United States to assume control of TikTok’s operations domestically.
Earlier this week, the White House stated that Trump will announce the agreement to divest TikTok’s US operations from its Chinese owner, ByteDance, in compliance with a 2024 law, with investors including Oracle (ORCL.N) and private equity firm Silver Lake.
TikTok, owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, has come under US scrutiny amid concerns that its powerful algorithm could be leveraged by Chinese authorities to influence content subtly.
Although Congress passed legislation mandating a ban beginning in January, Trump has repeatedly issued orders allowing the app to remain operational while his administration negotiates a takeover deal.
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