President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced that the United States and China have reached an agreement over TikTok, the popular video-sharing app Washington had threatened to ban on national security grounds.
“I’ve reached a deal with China on TikTok. I’m going to speak to President Xi on Friday to confirm everything,” Trump told reporters as he left the White House for a state visit to Britain.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had earlier said both countries were “very close” to a deal after trade talks resumed in Madrid on Sunday. The discussions, led by Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, focused on easing tensions over trade and technology between the two global powers.
TikTok is owned by Chinese company ByteDance. A US law requiring its sale or a nationwide ban was set to take effect a day before Trump’s inauguration on January 20.
Trump, whose 2024 campaign relied heavily on social media, had previously supported the ban but later paused it. In June, he granted TikTok an extra 90 days to find a US buyer, with the deadline set to expire on Wednesday.
He has since shifted his stance, arguing that the platform, which has nearly two billion global users, helped him gain support among young voters in last year’s election.
