The White House said Saturday that a new agreement over TikTok will give the United States control of the app’s U.S. board and its powerful recommendation algorithm.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News the board will have seven members, six of them Americans. China’s ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, would choose the seventh. She said the deal could be signed “in the coming days.”
The agreement follows a 2024 law passed under President Joe Biden that required TikTok’s U.S. assets to be sold or face a nationwide ban by January 2025.
President Donald Trump, who returned to the White House this year, has repeatedly delayed enforcement of the law while pushing for a deal that moves the app into American hands.
According to a senior White House official, the arrangement would make TikTok’s U.S. entity majority-owned by American investors and operated inside the United States. The official said ByteDance would hold less than 20 percent of the new venture.
The board would include Americans with national security and cybersecurity backgrounds. All U.S. user data would be stored on Oracle-run servers inside the country. The official said TikTok’s algorithm “will be secured, retrained and operated in the United States outside of ByteDance’s control.”
Leavitt also highlighted Oracle’s role, calling it “one of America’s greatest tech companies.” She said Oracle will lead data and privacy protections and control the algorithm. Trump praised the investors set to be involved, telling reporters, “We have great American patriots that are buying it. Very substantial people.”
Trump spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday about the deal. He said Xi had approved it during the call, but noted it still needs to be signed. Beijing has not confirmed that claim.
The agreement represents a breakthrough in months of negotiations between Washington and Beijing. Both sides have sought to ease trade tensions while addressing U.S. security concerns about TikTok’s ownership.
TikTok has more than 170 million American users and has become a central platform for political messaging. Trump himself has more than 15 million followers and credited the app with helping his re-election in 2024. The White House recently launched an official account on the platform.
Lawmakers remain divided on whether the deal meets the full divestiture requirements of the 2024 law.
Despite the criticism, Trump said the U.S. will have “very, very tight control” over TikTok once the deal is finalized.