President Donald Trump has signed an executive order approving the sale of TikTok’s U.S. operations to American and international investors.
According to Reuters, the order, signed on Thursday, compels bidders to meet national security conditions under a 2024 law that would otherwise ban the platform unless its Chinese owners divest.
Speaking at an Oval Office briefing, Vice President James Vance disclosed that the new U.S.-controlled entity would be worth about $14 billion.
“We actually think this is a good deal for investors, but they will make a determination about what they want to invest and what they think is the proper value,” he said.
The White House has extended the enforcement date of the law to January 20, allowing more time for negotiations, investor commitments, and discussions with Chinese officials.
Trump’s order outlines that TikTok’s prized recommendation algorithm will be retrained and overseen by U.S. security partners under the control of the new venture.
“There was some resistance on the Chinese side, but the fundamental thing that we wanted to accomplish is that we wanted to keep TikTok operating, but we also wanted to make sure that we protected Americans’ data privacy as required by law,” Vance said.
Trump said he had spoken directly with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who, according to him, expressed support for the plan.
“I spoke with President Xi,” Trump said. “We had a good talk, I told him what we were doing, and he said go ahead with it.”
The Chinese Embassy in Washington and TikTok are yet to comment on the development.
Trump, who credits TikTok with helping secure his reelection and boasts 15 million followers on his personal account, said the deal will include top investors such as Michael Dell, Rupert Murdoch, and “probably four or five absolutely world-class investors.”
“This is going to be American-operated all the way,” Trump said.