September 20, 2025 | 10:53 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - US President Donald Trump on Friday, September 19, 2025, said Chinese President Xi Jinping had approved a deal to keep the popular short-video app,TikTok, operational in the US.
Washington has been pushing to wrest control of TikTok from Chinese ownership, with Trump—who once called for the platform to be banned—having used it to rally young supporters.
What did Trump say about TikTok?
Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that Xi "approved the TikTok deal," adding that "it could be a formality" in getting an agreement signed later.
Trump was speaking to reporters in the Oval Office after having held a phone call with the Chinese president earlier in the day.
"We're going to have a very, very tight control," Trump said. "There's tremendous value with TikTok, and I'm a little prejudiced because I frankly did so well on it."
The US president had said in a social media post after the phone call that the pair held a "productive call" spanning several topics.
What do we know about the TikTok deal so far?
The US government is expected to receive a multibillion-dollar payment as part of the deal, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Investors involved would pay the fee to Washington in return for help negotiating with China, according to people familiar with the talks.
Under the reported framework, US investors would gain control of the video-sharing app through a new entity that would license TikTok's algorithms from parent company ByteDance.
The structure aims at easing national security concerns over American user data, according to the newspaper report.
US officials have long warned that China could use TikTok to harvest data or influence what users see online, including during Donald Trump's first term.
On Tuesday, Trump again postponed a ban on the popular video app, despite those national security concerns.
What has China said on the TikTok deal?
China has not confirmed any agreement on TikTok and described the discussions as "frank and in-depth."
"On the TikTok issue, Xi noted that China's position is clear: the Chinese government respects the will of enterprises and welcomes them to conduct business negotiations based on market rules, to reach solutions that balance interests and comply with Chinese laws and regulations," a statement said.
"China hopes the US side will provide an open, fair, and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese companies investing in the United States."
It's the second time the leaders of the world's two largest economies have spoken since Trump's return to the White House.
Trump also said he would meet Xi on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit in South Korea that begins at the end of next month and that he planned to travel to China next year.
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