Donald Trump has said that Chinese President Xi Jinping has approved a deal for TikTok, marking the first direct contact between the two leaders since June. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump stated, 'He approved the TikTok deal,' but offered no specifics on the agreement or a timeline for its signing.
The call came amid ongoing tensions over trade and the future of TikTok, a Chinese-owned social media platform facing a US ban. Trump had earlier indicated that a deal was reached to transfer TikTok to US control, but details remain scant. Investors, including Oracle, are in talks to take a large stake in TikTok’s US operations to comply with a law passed by Congress last year.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt insisted that the app would be under American control, with six of seven board seats held by Americans and the algorithm also controlled by the US. The Wall Street Journal reported that investors would pay a fee to the US in exchange for negotiating the agreement with China.
China’s readout of the call described it as 'pragmatic, positive, and constructive,' and emphasised that China respects companies' wishes to conduct commercial negotiations based on market rules. Trump called the call 'very productive' on Truth Social, mentioning progress on trade, fentanyl, the Russia-Ukraine war, and the TikTok deal.
The leaders agreed to meet at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea in late October, with Trump planning to visit China early next year. The TikTok deal was negotiated in Madrid between US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng, as part of a temporary pause in the trade war, with a deadline of 10 November.
