Officials from the Trump administration announced Monday that an agreement has been finalized with China, allowing the social media platform TikTok to remain available in the United States. The development concludes a drawn-out negotiation process that began during President Donald Trump’s first term.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed the pact, noting that Trump is scheduled to hold discussions with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday to seal the arrangement, according to CNN. Speaking in Madrid, Bessent credited the president’s direct involvement.
“President Trump played a role in this, we had a call with him last night, we had specific guidance from him we shared it with our Chinese counterparts,” Bessent said in Madrid on Monday. “Without his leadership and the leverage he provides, we would not have been able to include the deal today.”
The administration has not identified the American-backed purchaser, though speculation centers on a consortium led by Oracle executive chairman Larry Ellison. Ellison, a Trump supporter who briefly became the world’s richest man last week, was publicly endorsed by Trump in January as a potential acquirer of TikTok’s U.S. operations.
Talks unfolded alongside diplomatic meetings in Spain, where trade issues dominated the agenda. Bessent led the American delegation, with TikTok surfacing as a priority. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said, “We were very focused on TikTok and making sure that it was a deal that is fair for the Chinese and completely respects US national security concerns, and that’s the deal we reached.” He added, “And of course, we want to ensure that the Chinese have a fair, invested environment in the United States, but always that US national security comes first.”
Neither TikTok nor its parent company ByteDance has responded publicly to the agreement.
Trump had repeatedly, and some say illegally, extended self-imposed deadlines for China to divest its U.S. TikTok holdings, following a congressional measure under former President Joe Biden that banned the app unless ownership shifted to a U.S.-aligned entity. Shortly before Trump’s latest extension, the White House created its own TikTok account.
TikTok went dark nationwide on January 18, the day before the Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act took effect. On January 19, ahead of his second inauguration, Trump announced plans for an executive order shielding American firms that supported TikTok. Issued on January 20, the order delayed enforcement for 75 days. Another extension in June pushed the cutoff to September 17, with observers expecting further delay absent a breakthrough. Critics argued the extensions undermined the law’s intent, though the statute grants the president broad discretion.
The agreement could open the door to a long-anticipated Trump–Xi summit, potentially during Trump’s upcoming Asia trip in late October and early November.
On Monday, Trump posted on Truth Social: “The big Trade Meeting in Europe between The United States of America, and China, has gone VERY WELL! It will be concluding shortly. A deal was also reached on a ‘certain’ company that young people in our Country very much wanted to save. They will be very happy! I will be speaking to President Xi on Friday.”
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