Trump Does a TikTok Dance?

Will TikTok survive to dance another day? Despite a Supreme Court ruling in January upholding a law passed by Congress to shut down the social-media platform while it remains under China’s communist control, Donald Trump keeps postponing its enforcement. Trump wanted to use TikTok as leverage in its trade negotiations with Beijing, even after it became clear that Xi Jinping doesn’t necessarily see it as a high priority in US-China relations.

Even so, the expiration date for Trump’s most recent delay on enforcing the law is fast approaching, which means Trump either needs to find a buyer for TikTok or shut it down. This morning, Trump teased some upcoming news on a deal for a “certain” company used by “young people in our Country.” Has Trump found a buyer, under terms Xi will accept?

Certainly sounds like it, or at least that Trump thinks he has:

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent got more specific later in the morning. He announced that “commercial terms have been agreed upon” by private-sector parties to the sale. The only remaining issues are with Xi’s face and the Chinese Communist Party regulators:

Treasury Secretary Bessent says there’s a preliminary deal to shift TikTok from Chinese to US ownership. Trump and Xi are supposed to talk Friday to nail this down.

Sorta ends suspense about the Wednesday deadline to enforce the law banning TikTok, no? pic.twitter.com/hNLifkWlIV

— Olivier Knox (@OKnox) September 15, 2025

The Wall Street Journal reports that Trump squeezed Xi over a state visit to gain the necessary concessions:

U.S. and Chinese negotiators reached a framework deal on TikTok after two days of trade talks here, a crucial step toward ending the yearslong saga over whether the video-sharing app can operate in America just days before it was set to be banned.

China, which had until now shown little appetite for a deal on the wildly popular app, likely conceded to the agreement to keep alive Beijing’s ambition for President Trump to visit China.

The deal will be confirmed by Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping following a call on Friday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.

The Chinese regulator’s action, according to people familiar with the matter, was taken to provide Xi with political cover for the TikTok deal so he wouldn’t appear weak to his domestic audience. Until the Madrid meetings, Chinese authorities had shown little interest in bowing to U.S. demands that TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, sell its controlling stake to U.S. investors. The newfound flexibility is linked to Beijing’s intensifying efforts to secure a state visit from Trump.

One key point remains murky, to say the least. TikTok operates on a recommendation algorithm that Xi’s regime has designated a protected commercial property, with rigid export controls to prevent its sale. Bessent declined to address that point today in talking about the deal, but these types of controls are important parts of the overall trade talks. It’s not clear at all that a sale to a US owner would be worthwhile if the algorithm remains in control of the CCP. However, reversing course on the export control without something significant in return could undermine Xi in China as a show of weakness. 

Would a Trump state visit be worth the exchange? If Xi thinks so, it may indicate that he’s weaker at home than people think. The economy in China is reportedly struggling more than their official reports indicate, and the fumbled responses to recent natural disasters may be generating some pressure for reform or change. That’s something to watch in the near future, especially on Friday, when the deal will supposedly be finalized. Just who will be dancing most on TikTok this upcoming weekend? Stay tuned. 

Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump and his administration’s bold leadership, we are respected on the world stage, and our enemies are being put on notice.

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