Trump and Xi Jinping Hold Phone Call, Approve TikTok Agreement

U.S. President Trump announces auto tariffs at the White House. (March 26, 2025)

[People News] President Donald Trump announced on Friday (Sept. 19) that he and CCP leader Xi Jinping had approved an agreement allowing an investor group to take over TikTok’s U.S. operations, thereby ending months of difficult negotiations over the fate of this social media video app in the United States.

According to a Voice of America report, President Trump posted on Truth Social saying: “We made progress on many very important issues, including trade, fentanyl, the necessity of ending the Russia–Ukraine war, and the approval of the TikTok agreement.”

“This call was very good, we will speak again, thanks for the approval of the TikTok agreement, and both sides look forward to meeting at the APEC leaders’ summit!”

Trump also said that he and Xi Jinping will meet at the APEC summit in Gyeongju, South Korea. This summit will be held from Oct. 31 to Nov. 1.

In addition, Trump mentioned that he will go to China in early 2026, while President Xi will also visit the United States “at an appropriate time.”

TikTok has long been a key issue in tense trade negotiations between the U.S. and China. Earlier this week, negotiators from both countries discussed the agreement during trade talks in Madrid, but approval was needed from Trump and Xi Jinping.

A White House official said the call between the leaders of the world’s two largest economies began around 8 a.m. Washington time. The two approved allowing the popular social media app TikTok to continue serving its 170 million U.S. users, rather than being banned in the U.S., until its Chinese parent company ByteDance sells its controlling stake.

The two discussed the TikTok framework agreement drafted earlier this week, which aims to place TikTok’s U.S. operations under the control of an American investor consortium.

The transfer of TikTok’s ownership to the U.S. resolves U.S. national security concerns that the CCP government could gain access to TikTok user data.

On Thursday (Sept. 18), Trump said at a press conference in the U.K.: “The deal is huge… the acquiring party is a fully legitimate business, and truly a pro-American business—they will become the owners of TikTok… I would much rather benefit from this.”

On Monday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed what he called a “framework agreement” after concluding talks in Madrid with the Chinese trade delegation. The negotiations were completed before the Sept. 17 deadline set by the U.S. This deadline was originally established by legislation passed by Congress in 2024, but Trump extended it several times through executive orders.

Bessent told reporters: “This is a transaction between two private entities. But the commercial terms have been agreed.”

Although Trump and Xi did not disclose details of the deal, under the terms discussed, a new U.S. entity would be created to operate TikTok and take over control from ByteDance.

Trump had previously said he was open to Oracle chairman Larry Ellison acquiring TikTok. However, when asked on Tuesday about an American consortium acquiring TikTok, he declined to comment.

Ellison’s Oracle has an existing partnership with TikTok. This relationship began in 2020, when Oracle began hosting TikTok’s U.S. data. That year, Oracle briefly reached an acquisition deal with the first Trump administration, but the deal was ultimately blocked.

The new consortium of TikTok investors and existing backers will hold about 80% of the entity’s shares, while ByteDance’s ownership will be reduced to below 20%, in compliance with U.S. law passed last year.

As of this September, Trump’s personal TikTok account @realdonaldtrump had more than 15 million followers. He joined the platform in June 2024 during his presidential campaign.

Meanwhile, the U.S. and the CCP are still negotiating a broader trade agreement, the key point of which is Trump’s demand that the CCP stop exporting chemicals used to manufacture fentanyl, while the CCP wants the U.S. to reduce tariffs.

In addition, both sides discussed the issue of China obtaining U.S. chips and other technologies. Each side is using export restrictions to gain leverage.

Friday’s call was the second between President Trump and Xi Jinping since Trump began his second term and imposed high tariffs on China. The U.S. tariffs triggered reciprocal trade restrictions from Beijing. In June of this year, they spoke to discuss the CCP’s restrictions on rare earth exports. Rare earths are essential raw materials for manufacturing products such as automobiles, smartphones, and even jet aircraft. △