The popular social media app, TikTok, has faced significant scrutiny since Donald Trump returned to the Oval Office. President Trump ramped up issues involving TikTok dating back to before his second term. Republicans in Congress claim TikTok poses a security threat because it is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance.
This caused a mass panic in Washington, D.C., leading to an issue that would result in the ban of TikTok in the United States. For his part, Trump has tried to work something out as he felt the app helped him with younger voters. It didn’t, but let him think it did. He reached an agreement that would keep the app active for several months, but nothing was concrete.
What deal has the President worked out now, right as the September 17th deadline was approaching?
TikTok Deal Reached
President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday morning that the United States and China reached a deal to keep TikTok operating in the U.S. again. According to Reuters, three sources familiar with the matter claim the agreement is similar to the one discussed earlier this year. It includes the sale of TikTok’s American side.
According to the agreement, TikTok’s American assets will need to be transferred to U.S. Owners rather than stay with TikTok’s current parent company, ByteDance. If the sale takes place, it would resolve an issue that has been in play for nearly a year. Yet this deal does come with some problems.
TikTok America
Currently, over 170 million Americans use TikTok, making it one of the most used apps in the country. It was only unavailable for a few days before a deal was reached to keep it active in the United States earlier this year. However, a sale was still being discussed and came with multiple problems. President Trump claims that:
“We have a deal on TikTok…We have a group of very big companies that want to buy it.”
However, the President did not offer any further details beyond this. Later on Tuesday, Trump claimed that they extended the deadline from September 17th to December 16th. This offered China & ByteDance another 90 days. The White House declined to provide any further details on an agreement with China or ByteDance.
What This Means
TikTok will remain active in the United States of America at least until December 16th of this year. The drawback is that President Trump wants TikTok to sell the American side of the company. Meanwhile, ByteDance has claimed in the past that they have no intention to sell its app in any form. They did, however, store all American data in the United States.
The real issue here was that, while they might have stored the data in the United States, China could still easily access it remotely. Thus, the storage stuff never swayed American politicians. Clearly, President Trump seemed to be under the impression that ByteDance and China were willing to sell the platform early Tuesday. However, their only interest was in keeping 170 million American users active.
Timeline For TikTok
As of now, TikTok has been given another 90 days of operation in the United States. The problem here is that this extension does not really guarantee that any deal will be reached to sell the American side of the platform. President Trump seems to think that an agreement can easily be reached, but this is a pretty complicated issue.
You’re asking for the platform’s American side to be sold, which means it would be completely separate from the rest of TikTok. Yes, this does not just mean that an American company would own and run TikTok’s American side. It would also essentially shut it off from the rest of the world, making it impossible to see other TikTok creators outside of the United States or for the rest of the world to see American creators on the platform.
TikTok Board
Along with the several current problems that the U.S. Government is causing TikTok, it gets worse. They want the American version of TikTok to have a board dominated by American people. This is not necessarily a bad thing in theory. However, they also want to have at least one member designated by the U.S. Government, according to the Wall Street Journal.
This would effectively cause several to avoid using the platform. Many are currently critical of the government on TikTok. If a board member could censor or stop these types of videos, it would somewhat undermine one aspect of what makes TikTok special.
Proposed Deal Thus Far
According to Reuters, the basics of the deal the United States has proposed look a lot like the one they proposed back in April 2025. They’d offer ByteDance the largest ownership stake of 19.9%. Then a consortium would divvy up the remaning 80% of the ownership. This includes current shareholders Susquehanna International Group (SIG), General Atlantic, and KKR.
Included in this would also be new investors such as Andreessen Horowitz. Oracle is also in the mix to take a stake. Silver Lake, a notable investment group in America, is also said to be interested in investing, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Other Specifics Of The Deal
CNBC reported on Tuesday that the deal is expected to be completed sometime within the next 30 to 45 days. They also report that the agreement will include the Chinese-based parent company ByteDance, along with other new investors.
This also aligns with Reuters reports, both on Tuesday and another from back in April. The deal would ultimately result in the creation of a spin-off TikTok USA brand. This will be an entirely separate company based in the United States, with a majority of USA-based investors.
TikTok Negotiation Issue #1
ByteDance has been open to negotiation over TikTok, but the real crux of the deal is the algorithm. As many know, the TikTok algorithm is historically what users love the most about it. The platform tends to offer content based on the preferences of the user, mixing in both new and well-established creators. It is unwilling to sell this along with the American side of TikTok.
ByteDance is open to selling the American side of the platform. However, they have outright refused to sell the algorithm along with it. In all fairness, this is smart to do. The algorithm is what makes TikTok special. If the Americans find a way to replicate it, especially by another top tech company, the special nature of TikTok dies.
TikTok Negotiation Issue #2
As referenced previously, the sale of the American side of TikTok is not as beneficial as President Trump and others believe. TikTok by ByteDance would continue to operate as it does now, allowing all users to access anyone on the platform they choose. However, this will change if there is an American version of TikTok and a “rest of the world” version.
They’d have to operate separately, on two different apps. Only those in America can use the American version. Think of it like the Hulu streaming platform. On the flipside, Americans wouldn’t be able to use the TikTok that ByteDance runs. Eternally separating the two sides, cutting users off from accessing some of their favorite creators on TikTok.
TikTok’s Deadlines
The Trump Administration has often declined to enforce the law passed by Congress back in December that would outright ban TikTok. Republicans are responsible for it, and it has become divisive among the American people. By refusing to ban them, Trump effectively helped his party avoid a landmine.
It is possible that ByteDance still might not fully agree with everything, and another 90-day deadline could be put in place. Plus, it isn’t as if TikTok hasn’t been helpful to conservatives. The fact that the deadline has been extended now three separate times proves its value. ByteDance knows this, and could use it against the United States.
TikTok USA Will Likely Be Profit-Driven
Currently, ByteDance is the sole owner of TikTok. They have investors who recognize TikTok is profitable. As a result, they don’t interfere with its operation. As of January 2025, 1.59 billion people worldwide use TikTok every month. The United States only offers 170 million users. Sure, it’s still quite a lot, but nowhere near the 1.5 billion user base. They make a lot of money without resorting to forced advertisements.
Currently, the platform allows users to bypass advertisements and utilize creators to help sell products. TikTok USA will be a brand-new app, separated from its international creators. With a small user base and numerous investors, they’ll want to maximize their profits. Which means the app might be reduced to forced advertisements, potentially even forcing users to pay to use the platform. It simply cannot operate as it does now and be very profitable with just American-based users.
TikTok USA Might Struggle
One glaring issue we’ll need to be aware of is that a TikTok USA might struggle or completely fail for numerous reasons. The algorithm change is clearly one sign that things might not go very well. The lack of a worldwide connection is another issue. However, the idea that the American government will name a member to its board is also a clear problem.
Given the Trump Administration’s connection to this, they might render the platform useless. It would no longer be the free speech haven we know it to be now. A place that still censors hate speech, but also allows for good debate. We’ve seen the type of censorship this administration has been conducting against people from all walks of life. It would be impossible for non-Trumpers to use it after a while.
Users are also not forced to view people they dislike regularly, unlike what we see through META and even YouTube. The special nature of TikTok won’t be here, even with ByteDance as a part-owner. Thus, it could struggle to achieve significant success.