U.S President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order backing a plan to sell Chinese-owned TikTok’s U.S. operations to American and global investors, saying the deal would meet national security requirements set under a 2024 law.
The planned U.S. entity is expected to be valued at about $14 billion, according to Vice President JD Vance, significantly below some analyst estimates for the popular video-sharing platform.
Trump also postponed enforcement of the law banning TikTok in the United States until January 20, giving time to finalize the sale, secure Chinese government approval, and separate TikTok’s U.S. operations from its global platform.
The executive order marks progress toward resolving the long-running dispute over TikTok, though key issues remain unresolved, including control of its recommendation algorithm, widely seen as the company’s most valuable asset.
“There was some resistance on the Chinese side,” Vance told reporters. “But we wanted to keep TikTok operating while ensuring Americans’ data privacy as required by law.” Trump’s order states that the algorithm will be retrained and monitored by security partners, with operations managed by the new U.S.-based venture.
Trump said he discussed the plan with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who expressed support. “We had a good talk. I told him what we were doing, and he said go ahead with it,” Trump said. The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and TikTok also declined to comment.
TikTok, which has 170 million users in the United States, played a visible role in Trump’s 2024 reelection campaign. The president has 15 million followers on the app, and the White House launched its own official account last month.
“This is going to be American-operated all the way,” Trump said, adding that investors in the deal would include Dell Technologies founder Michael Dell, Fox Corp chairman emeritus Rupert Murdoch, and several others described as “world-class investors.”