President Donald Trump’s administration said Monday that a deal to separate TikTok’s U.S. operations from Chinese parent ByteDance is nearing completion, with ByteDance set to own less than 20% of the new entity.
The agreement, officials said, will bring TikTok U.S. under the control of a mix of existing American stakeholders and new backers with no ties to ByteDance. Oracle will provide cloud services to store U.S. user data, while private equity firm Silver Lake is among the investors expected to participate.
A White House official told reporters that President Trump will sign an executive order certifying the deal under a 2024 law requiring TikTok’s U.S. assets to be divested. The order will also grant a new 120-day enforcement pause, allowing time for the transaction to close.
Congress had mandated that TikTok be shut down for U.S. users by January 2025 unless ByteDance sold its stake. Trump delayed enforcement until mid-December to allow negotiations to continue.
The Chinese embassy in Washington welcomed progress, calling for a “solution that complies with China’s laws and regulations and takes into account the interests of both sides.” U.S. officials said they are confident Beijing has approved the deal and do not expect further talks.
TikTok, with more than 170 million American users, has faced months of uncertainty over its future. Officials said the valuation of its U.S. assets will be in the “many billions of dollars,” though final terms are still being negotiated.
If completed, the agreement would avert a nationwide ban and mark a rare breakthrough in U.S.–China relations after years of economic friction.
