Trump says he & Xi Jinping 'made progress' on TikTok deal over phone call

U.S. President Donald Trump said he and China's President Xi Jinping made progress on a potential deal on TikTok during a phone call on Sep. 19.

Trump posted on Truth Social that the two had a "very productive call" and made progress on many issues, including "Trade, Fentanyl, the need to bring the War between Russia and Ukraine to an end, and the approval of the TikTok Deal."

He added that he will be meeting Xi at the APEC Summit in South Korea and will visit China early next year.

Chinese state media Xinhua confirmed that the two presidents had a call on Sep. 19, during which Xi welcomed negotiations over TikTok and told Trump to avoid imposing unilateral trade restrictions.

Xi also emphasised the importance of China-U.S. relations, though no mention was made of future state visits or approval of a TikTok deal in the statement.

TikTok ban postponed several times

Although TikTok is a Singapore-based company, its parent company ByteDance, is based in China.

TikTok was previously told that it risked being shut down if ByteDance, the Chinese firm behind TikTok, did not divest from it.

This ban was extended several times, with the latest extension granting TikTok until Dec. 16 to sell its assets to an American company, AP news reported.

The Trump administration said earlier this week that a framework deal was reached between the U.S. and China for the app's ownership after weekend trade talks in Spain.

According to AP news, Chinese officials said on Sep. 15 that an agreement was made to authorise the use of intellectual property rights, including the algorithm, and both parties consented to appoint a third-party partner to manage U.S. user data and ensure content security.

Both China and the U.S. are still negotiating a broader trade agreement related to tariff reduction, the U.S.'s hope for China to crack down on the drug fentanyl, as well as China's access to the U.S. chips and other technology, WSJ reported.

Why so much talk about TikTok?

In April 2024, the U.S. Congress passed a law that mandated that the China-based company ByteDance must divest itself of TikTok to U.S. ownership or ownership that satisfied Congress's national security concerns regarding the app.

That law was signed into effect by outgoing president Joe Biden in May 2024, effectively starting the clock on TikTok's demise in the U.S.

TikTok and ByteDance have repeatedly said they have no intention of selling TikTok, which has more than 170 million American users.

ByteDance has even said it would rather shut down TikTok than sell it.

Numerous U.S. legislators have said TikTok represents a significant national security concern, as it is owned by China and collects large amounts of data from U.S. users, suggesting that China's government could force ByteDance to hand over such data, a claim that TikTok denies.

China has rejected such allegations, and as early as March 2024, said it would "strongly oppose any forced sale of the company and that such a sale would "damage the confidence of investors" in the U.S., as was reported by the Washington Post.

Top image via Donald Trump/Facebook, Xinhua, and Canva