Trump Announces TikTok Deal ‘Reached,’ Won’t Say How
(Sipa via AP Images)
President Donald Trump announced Monday that a deal has been reached to save TikTok, though he offered no details on the terms.
In a statement posted to Truth Social, Trump declared:
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. The relationship remains a very strong one!!! President DJT
The post was an unmistakable reference to TikTok, the wildly popular short-video app that faces a Sept. 17 deadline to divest its U.S. operations or face a ban. Trump also revealed plans to speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping later this week.
The announcement comes as U.S. and Chinese officials have been holding high-stakes talks in Madrid aimed at resolving multiple trade disputes, with TikTok at the top of the agenda.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer both suggested over the weekend that the sides were “very close” to an agreement.
TikTok has long been caught in the crosshairs of U.S. policymakers. During Trump’s first term, the White House attempted to ban the app via executive order, citing national security risks. That effort faltered in court, but bipartisan concern over China’s ownership of TikTok only deepened. In his second term, Trump signed into law a bipartisan measure requiring ByteDance — TikTok’s Chinese parent company — to sell its U.S. operations or face prohibition.
The law cited the vast amounts of user data collected by the app and the risk of that information being accessed by a geopolitical rival.
TikTok has denied sharing data with the Chinese government and mounted legal challenges to block the divestiture mandate, but the deadline now looms. Reports suggest that any deal would involve ByteDance spinning off its American operations into a structure more acceptable to U.S. regulators. China, meanwhile, has been pressing for concessions on tariffs and trade restrictions in exchange for cooperating on TikTok.
For now, Trump’s vague statement only raises new questions. What company or consortium would acquire TikTok’s U.S. arm? What concessions, if any, did Washington agree to make? And will the Sept. 17 deadline be extended to give negotiators time to hammer out details?
What’s clear is that the clock is ticking on one of the most consequential tech-policy battles in years — a fight that blends national security, global trade, and the social media habits of millions of Americans.
