Trump Signs Executive Order for US TikTok Deal: Chinese Ownership Reduced to 20% as Allies Take Control

Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order outlining a proposed deal for a US version of TikTok that would reduce Chinese ownership to 20 percent and transfer control to the president's allies.

At a White House signing ceremony, Trump announced that the US version of the app would be operated by "highly sophisticated" investors including Oracle founder Larry Ellison, tech investor Michael Dell, and media mogul Rupert Murdoch.

Investment firm Silver Lake Management and Silicon Valley's Andreessen Horowitz are also believed to be part of the arrangement.

"The proposed divestiture would allow the millions of Americans who enjoy TikTok every day to continue using it while also protecting national security," Trump declared in the order, which affects approximately 170 million American TikTok users.

While the mentioned investors are all Trump allies, he insisted that the app would not follow any political agenda.

"If I could make it 100 percent MAGA I would, but it's not going to work out that way unfortunately. No... every group, every philosophy, every policy, will be treated very fairly," Trump told reporters.

The president confirmed that the US version of TikTok would incorporate a domestically developed model of the app's coveted algorithm, often described as TikTok's "secret sauce" that propelled it to become one of the world's most popular platforms in just a few years.

A White House official stated on Monday that the algorithm would be "continuously monitored" to ensure it is "not being unduly influenced."

This new arrangement for TikTok responds to legislation passed during Joe Biden's administration that compelled its Chinese owner ByteDance to divest its US operations or face prohibition in its largest market.

US policymakers, including Trump during his first presidency, have cautioned that China could potentially use TikTok to collect data from Americans or exert influence through its sophisticated algorithm.

Trump has repeatedly extended enforcement deadlines through successive executive orders, most recently pushing the deadline to December 16, 2025.

Thursday's order extended that timeframe further, granting a 120-day enforcement delay to complete the transaction by January 23.

Vice President JD Vance, the former venture capitalist who led efforts to find a solution for TikTok, indicated that the US entity would be valued at approximately $14 billion, though he added that the final valuation would ultimately be determined by the investors.

When asked if Chinese authorities had approved the deal, Trump said that President Xi Jinping had given his consent during a phone call last week.

"(I have) great respect for President Xi, and I very much appreciate that he approved the deal, because to get it done properly, we really needed the support of China," he said.

TikTok did not respond to requests for comment or confirmation, and Beijing has maintained relative silence regarding any deal.

Following the Trump-Xi call, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported that Xi emphasized to his US counterpart that China supports market-based negotiations that align with Chinese laws.