On Friday morning, September 19, 2025, the world’s attention turned to a phone call between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping—a conversation that may well determine the fate of TikTok in America and signal a turning point in the ongoing trade tensions between the two global superpowers. According to a White House statement and confirmation from Chinese state-run media, the call began at 8 a.m. Washington time, with both leaders expected to confirm the outline of a deal that would separate TikTok from its Chinese owner, ByteDance, in order to keep the app alive in the United States.
The stakes of this diplomatic exchange couldn’t be higher. TikTok, with its estimated 170 million U.S. users—many of them young and politically active—has been at the center of a yearslong saga involving national security, international business, and the shifting sands of American electoral politics. As reported by CNN, President Trump announced after the call that “progress was made on many very important issues including Trade, Fentanyl, the need to bring the War between Russia and Ukraine to an end, and the approval of the TikTok Deal.” He added that the conversation with Xi was “a very good one,” and that both leaders look forward to meeting at the upcoming APEC summit in South Korea next month.
But what does this deal look like in practice? On Monday of that week, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and China’s vice minister of commerce Li Chenggang revealed that a framework TikTok sale agreement had been reached during negotiations in Madrid. While neither side has disclosed all the details, sources familiar with the talks told The Wall Street Journal and CNN that the proposal would see a consortium of U.S.-based investors—including Oracle, Andreessen Horowitz, and Silver Lake—take control of at least 80% of TikTok’s U.S. assets. Chinese investors would retain a 20% stake, and the new company would be overseen by a majority-U.S. board, with at least one member appointed by the Trump administration.
This arrangement is designed to comply with a bipartisan law signed by former President Joe Biden on January 19, 2025, which bans TikTok unless it divests at least 80% of its U.S. assets to American operators. Yet, as POLITICO notes, President Trump has repeatedly paused enforcement of the ban, issuing four extensions—the latest pushing the deadline to mid-December. Critics argue that these repeated delays have undermined the will of Congress, which passed the law with overwhelming bipartisan support and saw it unanimously upheld by the Supreme Court in January.
The deal’s structure and legality remain sources of contention. Senator Tom Cotton, a longtime critic of TikTok, warned earlier this year that the app’s “lethal algorithm has cost the lives of many American kids.” He insisted there would be “no extensions, no concessions and no compromises for TikTok.” Yet, eight months later, the Trump administration has offered just that: another extension, another concession, and another compromise. Some Republican China hawks on Capitol Hill have promised to scrutinize the deal closely. Still, there’s been little pushback from either party over Trump’s refusal to enforce the ban so far, as reported by POLITICO.
The heart of the matter, and the thorniest sticking point, is the fate of TikTok’s algorithm—the proprietary technology that powers the app’s addictive “For You” feed. China has long insisted it will not allow the algorithm to be sold or transferred, having amended its export control laws back in 2020 to include such technologies. U.S. law, meanwhile, prohibits “any cooperation” between the new American entity and ByteDance regarding the algorithm or data sharing. Yet, according to a Chinese cybersecurity official cited by POLITICO, the framework under discussion includes “licensing the [TikTok] algorithm and other intellectual property rights,” a provision that could run afoul of U.S. law if enacted as described.
ByteDance and TikTok have so far remained silent on the deal’s specifics, declining to respond to requests for comment from CNN. Meanwhile, the U.S. government has not yet confirmed the final terms, with a senior White House official cautioning that “any details of the TikTok framework are pure speculation unless they are announced by this administration.”
The path to this moment has been anything but straightforward. The bulk of the American-led investor group’s deal was reportedly wrapped up by April, according to Treasury Secretary Bessent. But then came Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs, which imposed a near-embargo on Chinese goods and brought TikTok negotiations to a halt. Only after the tariffs were lowered did talks resume, with both Trump and Xi expressing renewed interest in a resolution. In the interim, TikTok briefly went dark in the U.S. on January 18, the eve of the Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act taking effect. The following day, Trump signed an executive action ensuring U.S. companies hosting TikTok wouldn’t be punished—a move that some saw as a direct challenge to Congressional authority.
Trump’s evolving stance on TikTok is another layer in this complex story. While he initially advocated for a ban on national security grounds—citing concerns that the app could allow the Chinese Communist Party access to Americans’ personal data—his position shifted after TikTok’s young user base offered him significant support in the 2024 presidential election. As POLITICO observes, the White House even created an official TikTok account recently, signaling a remarkable reversal from prior warnings about the app’s dangers.
Democrats, for their part, have offered a mixed response. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer voted for the ban but later opposed its immediate enforcement and supported a legislative extension (which did not pass). Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California, who opposed the ban from the start, told POLITICO he is “working to make sure this deal does not lead to the censorship of free speech and will protect the millions of content creators who rely on TikTok.”
Underlying all of this is a fierce debate over the separation of powers and the rule of law. Critics argue that Trump’s repeated extensions and executive actions have scrambled the constitutional order, with the executive branch openly flouting a law passed by Congress and upheld by the Supreme Court. As POLITICO puts it, “This is not how laws are supposed to work in this country. Congress is supposed to pass them, and the president is supposed to enforce them.”
As both sides prepare for a face-to-face meeting at the APEC summit in South Korea next month, and with Trump planning a visit to China early next year, the world will be watching to see if this latest deal truly brings closure to the TikTok saga—or if it simply sets the stage for the next round of legal and political battles. For now, TikTok remains operational in the United States, its fate hanging in the balance as lawmakers, investors, and millions of users await clarity on what comes next.
