On Thursday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order declaring that his proposed plan to sell TikTok’s U.S. operations complies with requirements under the 2024 divestiture law.
The move effectively pauses enforcement of the TikTok ban until Dec. 16, 2025, giving time for a sale to proceed, U.S. investors to step in, and ByteDance — TikTok’s Chinese parent company — to grant approval. Under the proposed deal, U.S. investors would take an 80% stake in a restructured U.S. entity, while ByteDance and Chinese investors would retain less than 20%.
Oracle, among others, is expected to oversee TikTok’s algorithm and U.S. data custody, following persistent national security concerns that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has accessed American user data for political purposes.
As The Hill reports:
The deal comes nine months after the law was originally set to go into effect. Trump, however, has repeatedly delayed enforcement of the measure in hopes of striking an agreement to keep the app available in the U.S.
Administration officials revealed last week that the U.S. had a “framework” for a deal following trade talks with China. Trump said Friday that Chinese President Xi Jinping had approved the deal, but it remains unclear whether Beijing is ok with the reported terms.
“I had a very good talk with President Xi,” Trump said Thursday in the Oval Office.
“A lot of respect for him. Hopefully, he has a lot of respect for me, too. And we talked about TikTok and other things, but we talked about Tiktok and he gave us the go-ahead.
Trump’s executive order is designed not only to approve the transaction but to align it with the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (PAFACA), the 2024 law requiring divestment or a nationwide ban.
The Supreme Court previously ruled in TikTok, Inc. v. Garland that PAFACA does not violate the First Amendment.
Still, major questions remain. China must sign off on the deal’s structure, including algorithm licensing and oversight terms, and opponents in the U.S. could still mount lawsuits challenging the agreement on grounds of fairness, regulatory overreach, or control of TikTok’s core technology.
This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.
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