Trump signs order certifying TikTok deal meets US security law

US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order certifying that a deal to shift TikTok’s US operations to an American consortium meets national security requirements under US law.

The order also extended a moratorium on a mandated ban for 270 days, one of the final steps before the agreement is finalised.

Trump said Chinese President Xi Jinping gave his approval during a recent call.

"I had a very good talk with President Xi — a lot of respect for him. Hopefully, he has a lot of respect for me, too. And we talked about TikTok and other things, but we talked about TikTok and he gave us the go-ahead," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

A senior White House official said that after the order, TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance will sign a framework agreement with at least one managing investor in the new consortium, pending regulatory reviews.

American obsession

Under the deal, ByteDance’s share will fall below 20 percent to comply with a law passed by Congress last year requiring TikTok to be majority-owned by a US entity or face a nationwide ban.

Trump has postponed the ban several times since taking office in January.

Trump said the investor group will include Oracle, Michael Dell, Rupert Murdoch and others.

"We have probably four or five absolutely world class investors that love the country. They made a lot of money with the country," he said.

A White House official added that private equity firm Silver Lake will also participate.

US Vice President JD Vance said the new American company will be valued at around $14 billion.

"We actually think this is a good deal for investors, but ultimately the investors are going to make the determination about what they want to invest in and what they think is proper value," Vance said.

"The most important thing is that it does protect Americans' data security. It ensures TikTok is still accessible, and on this question of the algorithm, which we've heard a lot about, what this deal ensures is that the American entity and the American investors will actually control the algorithm," he added.

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Source: TRT