Trump signs order saying TikTok sale meets US requirements

US President Donald Trump on Thursday declared that a deal for TikTok satisfied the requirements of the US’ sale-or-ban law for the Chinese-owned short-video app, punctuating months of deliberations and years of angst in Washington over the app’s security implications.

“We have very good controls,” Trump said at the Oval Office on Thursday while signing an executive order on TikTok’s US operations, adding that Chinese President Xi Jinping had given him the “go ahead” on a deal in their call last week.

Speaking at the Oval Office alongside Trump, Vice-President J.D. Vance said the new version of TikTok will be valued at around US$14 billion.

“Ultimately, the investors are going to make the determination about what they want to invest in and what they think is proper value,” he said.

The timeline for the deal with Beijing is unclear, and Chinese officials have signalled it was not imminent. The two sides reached a “framework” for one during trade talks earlier this month in Madrid, where Chinese cyberspace official Wang Jingtao noted it could involve a licensing component for the app’s algorithm.

Asked on Thursday whether he was concerned about the algorithm’s security concerns, Trump said he was not because “it’s owned by Americans, and very sophisticated Americans”.

South China Morning Post