Trump Signs Executive Order Facilitating U.S. Acquisition of TikTok

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order facilitating the transfer of TikTok's U.S. operations to American ownership. The agreement allows U.S. investors to acquire a majority stake in the popular social media platform, addressing longstanding national security concerns.

Under the terms of the deal, U.S.-based companies, including Oracle and Silver Lake, will oversee TikTok's security and algorithm, which is central to its video recommendation feature. This arrangement aims to ensure that American user data remains secure and that the app complies with U.S. regulations.

The executive order comes after months of negotiations and legal challenges surrounding TikTok's ownership and data privacy practices. The Trump administration had previously expressed concerns about the app's Chinese parent company, ByteDance, and its potential access to American users' personal information.

The agreement is subject to approval by Chinese authorities and U.S. regulatory bodies. If finalized, it would mark a significant shift in the ownership structure of one of the world's most popular social media platforms, with approximately 180 million users in the United States.

President Trump stated that he had a productive conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping regarding the deal. "The call was a very good one, we will be speaking again by phone, appreciate the TikTok approval, and both look forward to meeting at APEC!" he wrote on his social network, Truth Social.

The deal also involves a consortium of American investors, including Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, media mogul Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan, and Dell CEO Michael Dell. This group is expected to play a significant role in managing TikTok's U.S. operations and ensuring compliance with national security requirements.

The agreement is expected to generate a substantial fee for the U.S. government from the consortium of investors. "The United States is getting a tremendous fee-plus—I call it a fee-plus—for just making the deal," President Trump said during a press conference in England last week.

This development follows a series of actions by the U.S. government to exert influence over the tech industry, including taking a 10% stake in chipmaker Intel earlier this month and urging companies like Apple and Nvidia to invest domestically.

The tentative deal ends months of legal uncertainty for TikTok, which had faced bipartisan pushback from lawmakers over data privacy concerns and allegations that China could use the app to spread propaganda or undermine U.S. democracy. TikTok has consistently denied these claims.

The agreement is subject to final approval by Chinese authorities and U.S. regulatory bodies. If finalized, it would mark a significant shift in the ownership structure of one of the world's most popular social media platforms, with approximately 180 million users in the United States.