Trump Signs Executive Order to Advance TikTok Deal

President Donald Trump has officially signed a new executive order that approves of a plan for the majority ownership of TikTok to change to American hands. Although the high-level structure of the agreement has been unveiled to the public, the legal and financial details are still in development behind closed doors.

“Everything is going to be American operated all the way,” Trump said during the signing ceremony. “I have great respect for President Xi, and I appreciate very much that he approved of the deal, because to do this right, we of course needed the approval and support of China.”

Ellison, Dell, and Algorithm Control

Further down the list of investors are still being realized, but Trump named Oracle and its billionaire co-founder Larry Ellison on the group of key investors. Also mentioned were Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch as individuals likely to be involved in the deal. Vice President JD Vance assured the final structure would assign the U.S. government control of TikTok’s underlying algorithm – the technology that would decide what content would be delivered to each user.

That leads to the next question, if they gave control of the algorithm wouldn’t it result in a tilt towards conservative content? Trump answered, “I’ve always liked MAGA-type.” He then assured, “If I could do it 100% MAGA, I would, but that’s not the way that it’s working. Unfortunately, no, everyone is going to be treated fairly. “Every group, every philosophy, every policy will be treated very fairly.”

From Ban to Acquisition

The agreement ends years of uncertainty over TikTok. Since 2020, U.S. officials across the political spectrum have expressed concerns about ByteDance – TikTok’s parent company based in Beijing – and potential ties to the Chinese government. Security experts and politicians have questioned whether ByteDance could be forced to turn over U.S. user data or sway public opinion through content recommendations.

As a result, Biden signed a consensus bill in 2023 requiring ByteDance to divest itself of ownership or else it would be banned from the United States. The Supreme Court upheld the law and the company was referred to get divestment done by January 19. While it seemed to have disappeared during the second inauguration of Trump, he used his executive power to delay it – four times. The last cut-off is now December 16.

Moving the Political Dial and Public Sentiment

Initially, Trump took a hard position against TikTok. When it debuted, he signed a series of executive orders to completely ban the app on national security grounds. That was ultimately put on hold in federal court. In 2024, he did a 180 by joining TikTok, posting campaign content, and using the platform to connect to younger voters.

At the same time, the Congressional leaders that had previously been enthusiastic about the ban were also moderating their position, given backlash of their own, as well. When the time came to impose the order, the Biden administration threw the delivery in Trump’s lap. Some Republicans distanced themselves, too, wayward to a ban.

Ultimately, with Trump signing the executive order, a way has been established that will likely both appease national security hawks, while continuing to let TikTok exist – under American ownership. Whether that works out depends upon the end product of ownership structure – and tribal resistance to trust.