President Trump signs deal to transfer TikTok's US operations to new joint venture, reducing ByteDance's stake to less than 20%

Due to concerns that TikTok is 'passing personal information to China,' the US has enacted the 'TikTok Ban Act' under the Joe Biden administration in 2024, which requires the app to either be shut down or sold to a US company. While the TikTok ban has been repeatedly delayed, it was announced in September 2025 that a 'framework' agreement had been reached , and a senior White House official revealed that President Donald Trump is scheduled to sign the agreement on September 25th.

Trump expected to sign a TikTok deal Thursday
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-tiktok-deal-sale-china-rcna233524

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The US government is urging ByteDance, the Chinese-owned short video platform, to sell its US operations of TikTok under the Protecting Americans from Applications Controlled by Foreign Adversaries Act (PAFACA). If the sale is not completed, the TikTok app will become unavailable in the US.

White House press secretary Caroline Levitt revealed that the agreement for TikTok's US operations allows six of the seven directors of the US business to be American, and also allows US control over TikTok's 'video feed recommendation engine,' the algorithm that determines which videos users see.

White House spokesman reveals details of agreement with China regarding TikTok's continued operations - GIGAZINE

'All the details have already been agreed upon, and all that remains is for the contract to be signed, which will likely happen in the coming days,' Levitt said.

A senior White House official told NBC News that President Trump plans to sign a deal to sell TikTok on September 25, 2025. If the deal goes through, TikTok's US operations will be run by a new joint venture, with ByteDance owning less than 20% of the new company, the official said.

In response to the US government's concerns that TikTok was handing over personal information to China, it has been revealed that the data of American users will be stored and managed exclusively within the US by the software and cloud computing company Oracle. Oracle will be responsible for TikTok's security and safety, and a senior White House official said, 'The platform's algorithms will be retrained and continuously monitored to prevent foreign manipulation of American content.'

President Trump mentioned the possibility that Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, Dell Technologies CEO Michael Dell, and media mogul Rupert Murdoch may also be involved in the deal. 'The business leaders involved in this deal are really great people, very prominent people. They're all American patriots, so I think they'll do a really good job,' he said.

The White House official added that the acquisition would also create a board of directors to oversee TikTok, with six seats reserved for American investors, but did not specify who would serve on the board.