On September 25, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that could reshape the future of TikTok in the United States, sending ripples across the tech world, diplomatic circles, and social media users alike. The order, which the White House says addresses longstanding national security concerns, paves the way for an American-led group of investors to acquire the wildly popular video-sharing app from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance. But as with many high-stakes deals, questions linger about who will ultimately hold the reins—and how the platform might change for the millions of Americans who use it every day.
Trump’s announcement came during a signing ceremony at the White House, where he declared that the new arrangement would allow TikTok to continue operating in the U.S. while ensuring that Americans’ data privacy is protected. According to the Associated Press, Trump insisted that Chinese leader Xi Jinping had agreed to the terms, telling reporters, “they’re on board.” This claim, however, has not yet been confirmed by Chinese officials, as the Chinese embassy in Washington declined to immediately respond to requests for comment.
The executive order grants an additional 120-day reprieve for TikTok’s continued operation while the deal is finalized. This comes after months of uncertainty, with President Joe Biden having previously signed legislation that would have forced ByteDance to sell TikTok’s U.S. assets or face a ban. Trump’s repeated interventions have kept the app alive in the American market, even as negotiations unfolded behind closed doors.
Under the proposed deal, TikTok would be spun off into a new U.S. joint venture controlled by a consortium of American investors, including tech giant Oracle and investment firm Silver Lake Partners. Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, Dell founder Michael Dell, and media mogul Rupert Murdoch are among those expected to play key roles in the new ownership structure. ByteDance, meanwhile, would retain a stake of less than 20%, with the majority—about 80%—firmly in American hands. The board overseeing the new venture would be dominated by U.S. investors, with ByteDance allowed just one representative, who would be excluded from security-related matters.
Vice President JD Vance, speaking alongside Trump, emphasized the importance of American control over TikTok’s powerful recommendation algorithm. “American investors will actually control the algorithm that determines the content seen on the social media app,” Vance said, adding, “We don’t want this used as a propaganda tool by any foreign government. We actually want everybody to access this, whether they’re MAGA or not. We just want it to be fair. We want it to be fair to everybody.”
The algorithm itself has been a central point of contention throughout the negotiations. U.S. officials have long warned that ByteDance’s proprietary code could be manipulated by Chinese authorities, potentially shaping what Americans see on their feeds—though, as the Associated Press notes, no concrete evidence of such interference has ever been presented. The new agreement stipulates that a licensed copy of the algorithm, retrained solely with U.S. data, will power the American version of TikTok. Administration officials say this retraining effort will nullify any risk of Chinese interference and influence, but it remains to be seen whether the user experience will noticeably change for the app’s vast American audience.
That audience is nothing to scoff at. According to a Pew Research Center report released Thursday, about 43% of U.S. adults under the age of 30 say they regularly get news from TikTok—more than from YouTube, Facebook, or Instagram. Any shift in TikTok’s ownership or editorial policies could have outsized effects on how young Americans consume information, form opinions, and engage with the world.
Not everyone is convinced the new arrangement will be free from political influence. Critics point to the involvement of figures like Larry Ellison and Rupert Murdoch, whose business and political interests often align with Trump’s own. David Greene, civil liberties director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told the Associated Press, “It won’t be 100% MAGA. The question is how it will treat criticism of him and people he likes.” Trump himself quipped that he’d make TikTok “100% MAGA” if he could, but quickly added that he intends for “every philosophy, every policy” to be “treated right.”
The deal is also a product of broader geopolitical maneuvering. Beijing initially decried U.S. demands for ByteDance to divest from TikTok as an act of “robbery,” but softened its stance as the U.S.-China trade war dragged on. Sun Yun, director of the China program at the Stimson Center, told the Associated Press, “TikTok alone does not compare with the importance of amicable U.S.-China relations and the positive momentum that prevents many negative developments from happening.” Some observers believe China’s willingness to accept the deal may be linked to broader negotiations over trade restrictions and diplomatic engagement.
Dimitar Gueorguiev, a political science professor at Syracuse University, offered another perspective: “Beijing is more interested in retaining access to U.S. technology and services, at least in the short term, so it can build up self-sufficiency in semiconductor, artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing. That is the front line of technological competition. TikTok, by contrast, is a maturing consumer app with diminishing strategic weight.”
The news of TikTok’s impending Americanization landed amid a flurry of other headlines from Washington. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth summoned hundreds of the nation’s top military officers to a sudden, unexplained meeting at Quantico, Virginia—a move that, according to the Washington Post, is seen as highly unusual. The White House also announced plans to fully implement the death penalty in Washington, D.C., and Trump floated the idea of diverting tariff revenues to support American farmers hurt by the ongoing U.S.-China trade dispute. Meanwhile, Trump continued to weigh in on global affairs, criticizing Russia’s war in Ukraine and rejecting any Israeli move to annex the West Bank.
As the dust settles on this latest TikTok twist, the platform’s future in the U.S. appears more secure—for now. But with so many powerful interests at play, and with the details of the deal still being hammered out, the story is far from over. One thing is certain: the outcome will be watched closely not just by TikTok’s millions of users, but by policymakers, tech giants, and governments around the world.
For TikTok’s young American fans, the app’s fate may seem to hang in the balance. But as the White House, investors, and Beijing jockey for position, the broader questions—about digital sovereignty, political influence, and the very nature of online discourse—are only growing more urgent.
