‘We have a deal on TikTok, will speak to Xi Jinping to confirm everything up,’ says Trump

WASHINGTON, DC : US President Donald Trump on Monday (local time) said that the US finally has a deal with Chinese app TikTok. Trump, while talking to reporters ahead of his UK visit, said that he will speak to Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“We have a deal on TikTok. I’ve reached a deal with China. I’m going to speak to President Xi on Friday to confirm everything up,” he said.

A deal has been reached between the Trump administration and China to keep TikTok operational in the United States, administration officials announced on Monday, concluding a years-long effort that began during Trump’s first term, CNN reported.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that a framework agreement has been reached, and Trump will speak with Chinese leader Xi Jinping Friday to finalize the deal. The agreement and conversation is a precursor to a Trump-Xi meeting that both sides have sought for months, US officials said Monday after a framework plan was announced.

“President Trump played a role in this, we had a call with him last night, we had specific guidance from him we shared it with our Chinese counterparts,” Bessent said in Madrid on Monday. “Without his leadership and the leverage he provides, we would not have been able to include the deal today,” as quoted by CNN.

TikTok briefly went dark in the United States on January 18, the day before the Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act went into effect. But on January 19, one day before Trump took office for his second term, he said he would sign an executive action upon the beginning of his term that would ensure US companies would not be punished for hosting TikTok on their app stores or servers.

The executive order, signed on January 20, delayed for 75 days the enforcement of the law. Trump extended the deadline again in June. The deadline had most recently been extended to September 17, but Trump was widely expected to move the deadline again if a deal didn’t come together in time, CNN reported. (ANI)