Trump, Xi poised to end TikTok tug-of-war

KUALA LUMPUR: After years of back-and-forth, the long-running drama over TikTok’s US operations may finally be nearing its end. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday that a long-anticipated restructuring deal is set to be finalised later this week, when President Donald Trump meets Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea.

Speaking from Kuala Lumpur on Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan, Bessent clarified that they’ve reached a final deal on TikTok, all the details have been ironed out, and the two leaders will finalise the agreement on Thursday in Korea. He explained that his main job had been to secure Beijing’s approval — something he believes is now in place.

The deal stems from an executive order President Trump signed last month to enforce a 2024 law requiring TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to sell its US operations or face a nationwide ban.

Under the plan outlined by the White House, TikTok’s American business would become a US-based joint venture, controlled mostly by American investors, including Oracle. The company’s board would be made up primarily of US citizens, while ByteDance would hold a minority stake of less than 20%.

Still, not everyone in Washington is convinced. Representative John Moolenaar (R-MI), who chairs the House Select Committee on China, cautioned on Face the Nation that as long as the Chinese are involved, there’s reason for distrust, pointing to lingering national security worries about ByteDance’s influence.

If all goes as planned, Thursday’s meeting could bring closure to one of the most closely watched tech negotiations in recent years — a high-stakes mix of diplomacy, data security, and global digital power.