Trump and Xi will ‘consummate’ TikTok deal on Thursday, treasury secretary says

The United States and China are poised to advance their negotiations surrounding TikTok, as confirmed by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Previously, Bessent announced that a preliminary framework for the deal had been established during talks in Madrid last month, which culminated in President Donald Trump signing an executive order to expedite the process. In a recent interview on CBS' Face the Nation, Bessent declared that a definitive agreement on TikTok has been achieved. "We reached an agreement in Madrid, and I believe that as of today, all specifics have been finalized. The two leaders will officially conclude the deal this Thursday in Korea," he stated. While he refrained from disclosing intricate details of the agreement, Bessent noted, "My role was to secure Chinese approval for the transaction, and I believe we have successfully done that over the past days." Trump has consistently prolonged the deadline for enforcing a law that compels TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, to divest from the app or face a ban in the U.S. The executive order stipulates that TikTok's U.S. operations, including its algorithm, source code, and content moderation practices, will be managed by a newly established board of directors, with Oracle taking charge of security operations. Oracle, led by Trump ally Larry Ellison, alongside Fox Corp, Andreessen Horowitz, and Silver Lake Management, is reported to be part of the new joint venture, with Trump's confirmation of Fox's involvement. Bessent's remarks were made from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where American and Chinese trade negotiators also reported reaching a framework concerning tariffs and various trade matters. U.S. trade negotiator Jamieson Greer mentioned that rare earth minerals were part of the discussions, although he did not elaborate on the specifics. Notably, China has indicated plans to tighten its export controls on these minerals, which are essential for the production of semiconductors and other technology products. "We discussed extending the truce and touched upon rare earths, among many other topics," Greer stated.