From Shutdown Threats to Survival Deal
The move follows Congress’ April 2024 passage of the Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which gave ByteDance a deadline to sell or face a total U.S. ban. The Supreme Court upheld the law, setting January 2025 as the make-or-break date.
In January, TikTok, Lemon8 and CapCut went dark for 12 hours, signaling ByteDance’s compliance as Trump weighed his options. A string of executive orders from Trump postponed enforcement, culminating in Thursday’s dramatic greenlight.
Vice President JD Vance said the new U.S.-led company will be valued at roughly $14 billion, underscoring the scale of the transfer.
The Global Stakes
The White House confirmed earlier this week that Oracle will safeguard personal data and help retrain TikTok’s recommendation algorithm to ensure independence from Chinese engineering teams.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said last week in Madrid that the U.S. and China had agreed to a commercial framework paving the way for the deal before the extended deadline.
For Trump, the decision was framed as a win-win: TikTok survives for millions of American fans and creators, while Washington claims a firewall against Chinese influence.
“The proposed divestiture,” Trump concluded in his order, “will allow the millions of Americans who enjoy TikTok every day to continue using it while protecting national security.”
