Trump Greenlights TikTok Deal That Keeps U.S. Operations Alive For Now
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order approving a joint venture that allows TikTok to continue operating in the United States. The decision follows years of legal and political wrangling and satisfies the core requirement of the 2024 national security law that mandates ByteDance to divest its U.S. operations or face a nationwide ban. Vice President J.D. Vance said the deal values TikTok’s U.S. unit at $14 billion.
Under the terms of the transaction, Oracle, Silver Lake, and Abu Dhabi-based MGX will jointly control approximately 45% of the new U.S. entity. ByteDance will retain 19.9%. The remaining 35% will be held by a mix of existing ByteDance investors such as Sequoia, General Atlantic, and Susquehanna, as well as new participants.
Oracle will manage cloud infrastructure and security operations for the platform. The U.S. venture’s board will include seven members, six of whom are American. Trump praised the deal as a national security win, highlighting Oracle founder Larry Ellison’s role and describing the ownership group as “very sophisticated Americans.”
ByteDance has not publicly acknowledged the transaction, and there has been no confirmation that the Chinese government has approved the deal. President Trump claimed that President Xi Jinping agreed to the structure, but Beijing has not made any legal changes that would enable the sale. No purchase price was disclosed, and details regarding board composition and financial commitments from rumored players like Rupert Murdoch, Lachlan Murdoch, or Michael Dell remain unclear.
For users, nothing changes immediately. The app will remain available, and both the user experience and ad operations will stay the same. Analyst Rich Greenfield noted that if a new app is eventually required, it would still retain existing user data and behavior. Structurally, the joint venture prevents any single party from absorbing the U.S. operations into a larger media entity such as Paramount or Fox.
While the structure addresses current U.S. regulatory concerns, the transaction is not finalized. The Chinese government could still block the deal, and the national security law that triggered this divestment has only been paused. Trump’s executive order delays enforcement until December 16.
