Trump Administration Claims TikTok Is (Basically) Saved
Is it not clocking to you that the clock app has been standing on business? Time is running out before September 17, the U.S. government’s latest delayed deadline for ByteDance to either divest TikTok or face a ban of it from American app stores. Although the Chinese parent company has not publicly announced that it is selling TikTok to U.S.-based owners, the Trump administration is claiming that it has found a solution. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on September 15 that the U.S. and China have reached a “framework for a TikTok deal,” per NBC. While he did not expand on who exactly will be in charge of TikTok’s algorithm in the future, Bessent said the deal was “between two private parties” and that “commercial terms have been agreed upon,” adding that the agreement is both “fair for the Chinese and completely respects U.S. national-security concerns.” His remarks came shortly after Donald Trump already made a celebratory post on Truth Social. “A deal was also reached on a ‘certain’ company that young people in our Country very much wanted to save,” the president wrote. “They will be very happy! I will be speaking to President Xi on Friday.”
Congress first passed a law requiring ByteDance to divest from TikTok or face a ban last year. Trump — who told reporters on September 14 that he would like to strike a TikTok deal “for the kids that like it” — has already extended the sale deadline three times so far. According to Reuters, Bessent said that it’s possible the deadline could be pushed back yet again to finalize this new deal.
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