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President Trump says call with Xi was 'productive'
President Trump on Friday said he had a 'very productive' call with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump announced Friday that a deal to save TikTok has been approved, though he did not immediately offer any details.
The future of the dominant social media app had been in doubt since legislation took effect in January that required its China-based parent company to divest or face a ban.
TikTok deal: Here’s what we know
What we know:
President Trump talked with Chinese President Xi Jinping by phone on Friday in a push to finalize a deal to allow the popular short-form video app to keep operating in the U.S. In a Truth Social post, Trump said XI would come to the United States "at an appropriate time," noting the leaders also approved the TikTok deal.
Trump did not disclose any details of the TikTok deal Friday. But according to the Wall Street Journal:
- A new U.S. entity would be created to operate the app.
- A consortium of new investors and existing backers would together own roughly 80% of that entity, with ByteDance dropping below 20%, as required by the legislation.
- Oracle will continue to handle U.S. user data.
- Jeff Yass, William Ford, Larry Ellison – all described by the paper as Trump allies – are all involved in the new ownership structure.
What they're saying:
"It's all being worked out," Trump said when asked about the deal at a Friday afternoon press conference. "We're going to have very good control. These are American investors and they all love our country. They're all very well-known people, very famous people, actually, financially. And they'll have control of it."
What we don't know:
The precise terms of the deal were not officially released. TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, had no immediate comment.
In this photo illustration a smartphone screen displays the logo of social media app TikTok on January 15, 2025 in Bath, England. (Photo by Anna Barclay/Getty Images)
Deal was anticipated
Timeline:
On Thursday, during a press conference, Trump said he would be speaking to President XI to "finalize something on TikTok, because there is tremendous value. And I hate to give away value, but I like TikTok, it helped get me elected."
He added: "The people that are investing it are among the greatest investors in the world, the biggest, the richest. And they'll do a great job. And we're doing it in conjunction with China."
According to the Wall Street Journal, negotiators from both sides discussed the potential agreement during trade talks in Madrid earlier this week, but needed Trump and Xi to approve it.
TikTok faced ban
The backstory:
National security concerns prompted Trump to call for a nationwide TikTok ban and even sign an executive order back in 2020. That order was blocked by a court but Congress passed legislation to that effect in 2024.
ByteDance and TikTok launched a legal challenge against the federal law, which was passed with bipartisan support in Congress and signed by then-President Joe Biden. In January, the two companies lost their case at the U.S. Supreme Court.
After taking office, President Donald Trump gave TikTok a 75-day reprieve by signing an executive order that delayed enforcement of the statute.
Number of adults using TikTok for news continues to grow
Dig deeper:
A survey from Pew Research Center found that 17% of adults regularly get news from TikTok.
That number has grown fivefold over the years, with just 3% of adults saying in 2020 that TikTok was a source of news for them.
RELATED: More Americans are regularly getting news on TikTok, Pew Research finds
When looking at TikTok users specifically, around half (52%) now say they regularly get news there, up from 43% in 2023 and 22% in 2020.
X, formerly Twitter, still has the highest number of users who report regularly getting news on their site.
The Source: The Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, and previous FOX TV Stations reporting contributed to this story. This story was reported from Los Angeles.