Trump Signs ‘Saving TikTok’ Executive Order

Photo Credit: The White House

Trump signs an executive order declaring that his deal for US investors to acquire TikTok’s US operations will meet national security requirements.

On Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order declaring that his plan for Chinese-owned TikTok to sell its U.S. assets to a group of U.S. investors will appease national security requirements laid out in a 2024 Biden-era law. The new U.S. company will be valued at around $14 billion, according to Vice President JD Vance, though the White House did not indicate how it reached that valuation.

The executive order further delayed the enforcement of the law that bans the app on a federal level unless its Chinese owners sell its U.S. assets, in efforts to extract TikTok’s algorithm and secure approval from the Chinese government. Still, there are numerous details to iron out, including how the new U.S.-based TikTok entity will utilize the platform’s valuable recommendation algorithm.

“There was some resistance on the Chinese side, but the fundamental thing that we wanted to accomplish that we wanted to keep TikTok operating, but we wanted to make sure that we protected Americans’ data privacy as required by law,” Vance told reporters during an Oval Office briefing.

According to the order, the algorithm will be retrained and monitored by the U.S. company’s security partners, and operation of the algorithm will be under the control of the new joint venture.

While the Chinese embassy has not immediately responded to media requests for comment, nor have representatives for TikTok, Trump says Chinese President Xi Jinping has indicated approval of the deal.

“I spoke with President Xi,” said Trump. “We had a good talk; I told him what we were doing, and he said go ahead with it.”

Trump also said the U.S. TikTok was going to be “American-operated, all the way.” He indicated in interviews last week that Michael Dell, founder, chairman, and CEO of Dell Technologies; Rupert Murdoch, chairman emeritus of Fox Corp; as well as “probably four or five absolutely world-class investors” would be part of the deal.

Previously confirmed investors Oracle and private equity firm Silver Lake will be part of a coalition that will take a roughly 50% stake in TikTok U.S., according to sources familiar with the deal.

A group of existing shareholders in TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance, which includes Susquehanna International and KKR, will hold a roughly 30% stake. ByteDance, meanwhile, would hold less than 20% of TikTok U.S. in order to comply with requirements set out in the 2024 law.

The New York Times also indicated that Emirati investment firm MGX is also expected to join the coalition of shareholders, according to two people familiar with the matter. This contradicts Trump’s assertion that the new investors were “American investors, American companies.” But the exact number and identities of investors will come to light as more details are revealed.