Trump clears way for US-owned TikTok

Administration worked for months to find non-Chinese investors for a US version of the app

- LAUREN HIRSCH TRIPP MICKLE EMMETT LINDNER

A smartphone shows a TikTok logo atop the Chinese and US flags. US President Trump signed an executive order to clear the path for a TikTok deal on Thursday.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday that would help clear the way for a coalition of investors to run an American version of TikTok, one that is separate from its Chinese owner, ByteDance, so that it can keep operating in the United States.

The administration has been working for months to find non-Chinese investors for a US TikTok company, which Vice President JD Vance said would be valued at $14 billion.

The deal is aimed at helping TikTok comply with a federal law, which banned the app in the United States in January out of concern that Beijing could use it to gain access to Americans’ sensitive data or to spread propaganda. Trump has delayed enforcement of the ban repeatedly. The Thursday order gives negotiators until mid-January to finalise the deal.

The White House hasn’t said exactly who would own the US version of TikTok, but the list of potential investors includes several powerful allies of Trump. Software giant Oracle, whose cofounder is billionaire Larry Ellison, will take a stake in US TikTok. Trump has also said that media mogul Rupert Murdoch is involved. A person familiar with the talks said the Murdoch investments would come through Fox Corp.