Trump Extends Tiktok US Shutdown Deadline To Dec 16 After China Deal
US President Donald Trump has once again pushed back the deadline to shut down TikTok in the United States, signing an executive order on Tuesday that extends the deadline to December 16. The move, his fourth such extension, came a day after high-level talks between US and Chinese officials in Madrid yielded a “framework consensus” to resolve the long-running saga over the popular video-sharing app, which boasts 170 million American users.
The extension provides a crucial reprieve for TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, granting it additional time to finalize a complex deal to divest its US assets to an American-owned entity. This has been a core demand of the US government, which has cited national security concerns that Beijing could exploit the app to access American user data or spread propaganda. The deadline, originally set by a bipartisan act of Congress for January 19, would have kicked in on Wednesday without Trump’s intervention.
A ‘Framework’ for a Deal
The breakthrough came after a meeting on Monday between US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng. Following the talks, Bessent announced a “framework deal,” stating that the goal was to switch TikTok’s assets to US ownership for its American operations. His Chinese counterpart, Li Chenggang, confirmed that the two sides had reached a “basic framework consensus” to cooperatively resolve the issue.
President Trump confirmed the progress on Tuesday, telling reporters he would discuss the specifics with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday. “We have a deal on TikTok,” Trump said. “A group of substantial companies is interested in acquiring it.”. He added that details on potential suitors would be announced soon.
According to reports, the commercial terms of a deal had been largely settled as far back as April, but negotiations were frozen after Trump announced steep tariffs on Chinese goods. Treasury Secretary Bessent told CNBC that the key to breaking the recent impasse was Trump’s credible threat to let the app “go dark” in the US.
Who Will Own TikTok?
While official details of the framework remain under wraps, reports suggest the new entity controlling TikTok’s US operations will be majority-owned by American investors, with ByteDance’s stake reduced to below 20% to comply with US law. The new controlling company’s board would be predominantly American, with one member appointed by the US government.
Speculation over potential buyers has been rampant for months. A consortium including tech giant Oracle and investment firms like Silver Lake and Andreessen Horowitz is reportedly a leading contender. Oracle already has a cloud computing partnership with TikTok to store US user data, and its executive chairman, Larry Ellison, is a known Trump supporter. Other bidders have reportedly included Microsoft, Amazon, and billionaire Frank McCourt.
One of the most complex parts of any deal is the fate of TikTok’s prized algorithm, which powers its highly addictive content feed. According to The Wall Street Journal, the deal may involve US users migrating to a new app that licenses a new algorithm from ByteDance, allowing the Chinese parent to retain control of its core technology.
For now, TikTok’s millions of US users can continue scrolling. The December 16 extension provides breathing room for negotiators to finalize one of the most complex and politically charged tech deals in recent history, one that sits at the volatile intersection of technology, trade, and national security.
