Trump Celebrates TikTok Deal, Thanks U.S. Investors and Xi for Preserving Important Voice

President Trump is claiming a major political win after his administration brokered a deal that keeps TikTok operating in the United States  a move he says delivers on a 2024 campaign promise and protects a platform popular with young Americans.

Under the agreement, majority control of TikTok’s U.S. operations will shift to American investors, while China-based parent company ByteDance will hold less than a 20% stake. Trump described the arrangement as a joint venture involving Oracle, private equity firm Silver Lake, and Emirati investment firm MGX.

“These great patriots will take ownership,” Trump said, adding that the deal ensures TikTok remains “an important voice” in the U.S.

Trump has repeatedly credited TikTok with helping him connect with younger voters during the 2024 election. In a post Thursday on Truth Social, he wrote that the app played a role in his strong performance with the youth vote and expressed hope that users would remember his role in keeping the platform alive.

“Along with other factors, it was responsible for my doing so well with the Youth Vote in the 2024 Presidential Election,” Trump wrote. “I only hope that long into the future I will be remembered by those who use and love TikTok.”

The deal reverses the trajectory set under President Biden, who signed bipartisan legislation in 2024 that would have effectively banned TikTok in the U.S. unless ByteDance divested from the app. Lawmakers backing the law argued that Beijing could use TikTok to access Americans’ data or influence what content users see through its recommendation algorithms.

Those national security concerns clashed with widespread public opposition to a ban, particularly among younger users and small businesses. Many argued TikTok had become a vital platform for creative expression, community building, and commerce, especially through its short-form videos featuring dances, humor, and viral trends.

Trump, who built much of his early political brand through social media platforms like Twitter, leaned into TikTok’s cultural influence and promised to keep it available in the U.S. After returning to office, he signed executive orders delaying a shutdown that had been scheduled for January 2025.

He assigned Vice President J.D. Vance to lead negotiations on a U.S. ownership deal. While talks were complicated by broader trade tensions between Washington and Beijing, the administration ultimately finalized the agreement following trade discussions in Madrid in September.

Trump publicly thanked both Vance and Chinese President Xi Jinping for helping make the deal possible, saying Xi could have blocked the agreement but chose not to.

“He could have gone the other way, but didn’t, and is appreciated for his decision,” Trump said.

In a statement, TikTok said the deal ensures continued access to the app for roughly 200 million American users and 7.5 million U.S. businesses. The company emphasized that the new ownership structure includes safeguards designed to protect national security.

“The majority American-owned joint venture will operate under defined safeguards that protect national security through comprehensive data protections, algorithm security, content moderation, and software assurances for U.S. users,” TikTok said.

For Trump, the agreement serves both as a policy win and a political message one aimed squarely at the millions of Americans who scroll, create, and do business on TikTok every day.