The Trump administration shared new details on Monday about a plan aimed at securing TikTok for over 170 million users in the U.S.
A senior official from the White House noted that a deal has been finalized with China to transition TikTok’s operations in the U.S. to a new joint venture primarily owned by Americans.
“This transaction signifies that TikTok will be predominantly American-owned,” the official stated.
However, the U.S. government will not have equal footing in the joint venture. Officials expressed a hope that investors would demonstrate patriotism and that board members would come from backgrounds related to cybersecurity and national security.
According to legal stipulations, ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company based in China, will possess no more than 20% of the shares in the application.
Under this arrangement, Oracle will serve as TikTok’s security provider, overseeing updates and data management. Currently, all American data is stored in the U.S. and will continue to be managed through Oracle’s systems.
China is set to provide the U.S. joint venture with a version of TikTok’s content recommendation algorithm for oversight and management.
Later this week, Trump is expected to formalize the contract through an executive order.
White House officials highlighted the significance of their efforts to preserve TikTok, pointing out that it would safeguard jobs and allow American businesses to keep using the platform for marketing.
They also expressed confidence that the contract terms were approved in a recent meeting held in Madrid.
On Friday, Trump stated, “I had a great call with [Chinese] President Xi [Jinping],” mentioning that he had gained approval for the deal.
Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt reiterated on Saturday that the White House feels “100% confident” about the agreement with China, emphasizing the need to finalize it promptly.
“This transaction means TikTok will be primarily owned by Americans within the U.S., with seven board members overseeing U.S. operations, six of whom will be American,” she noted.
