President Donald Trump is expected to meet with top officials in the Oval Office on Wednesday to consider final TikTok ownership proposals. Vice President JD Vance, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, national security adviser Mike Waltz and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard are expected to be involved in the dealmaking, sources told CBS News.
The litigation surrounding TikTok focuses on national security concerns. Though TikTok’s global headquarters are in Los Angeles and Singapore, the threat stems from its parent company, ByteDance, headquartered in Beijing, China.
Saturday is the deadline for Trump’s presidential action, which kept TikTok alive for an extra 75 days after the Jan. 19 deadline that had been set by Congress and signed into law by former President Joe Biden last year. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the ban in December, agreeing with lawmakers “that divestiture is necessary to address its well-supported national security concerns regarding TikTok’s data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary.”
TikTok has asserted that the Chinese government does not control or have access to its content. Despite these claims, the U.S. continues to be skeptical.
What is likely to happen?
Over the weekend, Trump told reporters he was sure a deal would be reached because “a lot of people want to buy it,” and that he’d like to see the app “remain alive” in the U.S. However, there’s been little public information regarding any proposed deal, including if ByteDance is even willing to sell to American buyers.
Last week in the Oval Office, he told reporters he would choose the best deal for the country, with China possibly having to play a role. “Maybe I’ll give them a little reduction in tariffs or something to get it done,” he said. “Because every point in tariffs is worth more money than TikTok. ... It sounds like something I’d do.”
He also said he could extend the deadline if he wished, similar to what occurred in January when the app went dark for about 12 hours for its 170 million U.S. users.
Sources familiar with the matter said, per The Wall Street Journal, that during his meeting Wednesday with members of his administration, Trump is expected to review a potential deal with tech company Oracle. Other companies, including investment company Blackstone, have also reportedly been in talks about buying out ByteDance’s stakes in the U.S.
Damian Rollison, director of market insights at SOCi, told the Deseret News via a statement that though “We’re hearing a lot of confidence from the Trump administration about getting a deal done by the deadline,” he finds it strange “considering how little we know about the specifics and how complicated the terms are likely to be. If ByteDance was willing to divest TikTok in the U.S., why didn’t they make a deal months ago when they were in a better position to dictate terms?”
“Regardless, I think it’s fairly safe to place bets on TikTok remaining available to U.S. users in one form or another, which will be welcomed as positive news by its large and still growing audience, who utilize TikTok for everything from connecting with friends to following the news and shopping for products,” he added.