Trump Says Deal Reached to Keep TikTok Operating in U.S.

President Donald Trump said on Thursday that a deal has been reached between the United States and China that will allow the short-video platform TikTok to continue operating in the United States, and that a buyer for its U.S. operations will be announced soon.

Trump told reporters as he departed the White House for a state visit to the United Kingdom that he had “reached a deal with China” and planned to speak with President Xi Jinping on Friday to "confirm everything up." CNBC reported that the package would include a mix of current and new investors and said the transaction could be completed within 30 to 45 days, while noting that Oracle would retain its existing role hosting TikTok’s U.S. servers.

The reported framework follows talks in Madrid in which a U.S. trade delegation said it had reached a "framework" agreement with Chinese counterparts as part of broader trade negotiations. Chinese officials confirmed a framework had been reached but said any deal would not be made at the expense of Chinese firms' interests.

Wang Jingtao, deputy head of China’s Cyberspace Administration, suggested at a press conference that the arrangement could include licensing of TikTok’s algorithm and other intellectual property, and said the Chinese government would review matters such as technology exports and licensing according to law. The comments indicated regulatory scrutiny in Beijing would be required before certain elements of any transaction could proceed.

The Biden and Trump administrations both have expressed national security concerns about TikTok because of its ownership by Beijing-based ByteDance. The U.S. Justice Department has said the app poses “a national-security threat of immense depth and scale” because of its access to Americans’ data. In January, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a federal law, passed in April 2024, that would ban TikTok in the United States unless ByteDance divested its American operations.

ByteDance has resisted forced sale efforts, maintaining it keeps U.S. operations separate and has said it does not share U.S. user data with the Chinese state. The company has repeatedly pushed back on the characterization that it poses a national-security threat.

U.S. lawmakers had focused on hosting arrangements and data flows as central concerns; Oracle’s role in hosting TikTok’s U.S. servers had been a key point of discussion in previous proposals. CNBC’s reporting that Oracle would remain the host aligns with those earlier arrangements, though it said the ownership mix in the new deal would involve both current and new investors.

The enforcement timeline has shifted several times. TikTok briefly became unavailable in the United States in January before the initial ban was delayed, and deadlines to complete a sale have been extended on multiple occasions. The most recent extension runs to Sept. 17.

Trump’s announcement represents a reversal from his prior calls to ban TikTok during his first presidential term and comes amid high-stakes negotiations that involve trade, technology and national security considerations on both sides. U.S. and Chinese statements to date describe a framework rather than a final, legally binding agreement, and Chinese authorities have signaled that additional approvals will be required for any transfer of technology or intellectual property.

It was not immediately clear from the president’s remarks what specific terms had been agreed, which parties would comprise the buyer group, or how Beijing and Washington would resolve outstanding regulatory and legal hurdles. U.S. officials and Chinese counterparts have said further consultations and approvals remain necessary before any definitive transfer of assets or licensing arrangements can be completed.

Any final agreement will need to contend with the U.S. law upheld by the Supreme Court, ongoing scrutiny from federal agencies, and Chinese regulatory review. Negotiators from both countries have framed the Madrid talks as part of broader economic discussions, and officials from Washington and Beijing indicated on Thursday that more meetings and bilateral consultations are expected to translate the framework into formal terms.

Political and industry stakeholders will watch for an official announcement of the buyer and for regulatory filings that could reveal how data access, algorithm licensing and governance arrangements will be handled under the proposed deal. Until such filings are made public or formal approvals issued, the framework described by Trump and Chinese officials remains subject to change and further legal and diplomatic review.