White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt says that a deal is reached between the U.S. and China where TikTok’s algorithm and data are controlled by America and are majority-owned by Americans in the United States.
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A preliminary deal to keep TikTok alive in the United States will not involve the federal government taking an equity stake or a “golden share” in the social media company, a senior White House official said Monday.
The official confirmed that the deal will base the popular video app’s U.S. operations in the states as part of a new joint venture with a board of directors that will have a majority of American members.
None of those board members will be selected by the government, the official said during a call with reporters.
Tech giant Oracle will oversee its security operations, the official said.
President Donald Trump will sign an executive order later this week backing the proposed deal, and once again extending the deadline when TikTok could face a U.S. ban, the White House said.
When asked to clarify that the deal is finalized, an official expressed confidence that China has approved it and that it will not get hung up on any regulatory hurdles.
Since Trump took office in January, the United States government has secured a golden share in U.S. Steel and taken an equity stake in Intel. A golden share effectively gives Trump veto power over key business decisions at the company.
ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, faces an ultimatum under a federal law requiring it to either divest the platform’s American business or be shut down in the U.S. That law passed with bipartisan support from members of Congress who expressed national security concerns about the app and its potent content algorithm.
Trump, who says he likes TikTok, has repeatedly extended the divest-or-ban deadline. Last week, he signed an executive order delaying it until Dec. 16.
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