President Trump is signing off on a controversial deal with China to keep TikTok online.
According to a senior White House official, the deal would shift majority control of the China-based app to American investors, Fox News reported.
"The administration looks forward to finalizing this deal with all stakeholders," the official told Fox News Digital. "President Trump is expected to sign an Executive Order later this week to approve the proposed deal."
The deal enables TikTok to avoid a ban imposed by Congress last year that requires TikTok to divest from ByteDance, its China-based parent company, in order to stay in operation.
China hawks have long sought to shut down TikTok over concerns about security. Trump opposed TikTok during his first term, but later reversed course after harnessing its viral potential in the 2024 presidential election.
The president had repeatedly pushed back on enforcing Congress' ban while he negotiated a deal with China to rescue the ultra-popular app, which has millions of American users.
At one point, Trump floated having the U.S. government become a stakeholder, but that does not appear to be part of the preliminary deal.
The White House says the government will not have a stake in TikTok - which will operate as a joint venture with a majority-American board of directors.
Under the new deal, ByteDance will have no more than 20% of TikTok and can only have one member on the seven-member board.
The security for TikTok will be handled by tech giant Oracle, co-founded by Larry Ellison. According to Trump, Michael Dell and the Murdoch media empire will likely be involved in the deal as well.
“You know, they’re very well-known people. And Larry Ellison is one of them. He’s involved. He’s a great guy. Michael Dell is involved. I hate to tell you this, but a man named Lachlan [Murdoch] is involved,” Trump told Fox News on Sunday.
The Trump administration says the deal will protect American jobs while keeping Americans' data safe from China. The familiar TikTok experience will remain, allowing U.S. users to view content from around the world.
Oracle will receive a leased copy of TikTok's algorithm, which will be "retrained" to ensure China does not exploit the platform, the White House official told Fox.
"Foreign powers, like China, will not be able to access U.S. user data," the White House official told Fox.
