President Donald Trump is preparing [1] to approve an agreement this week that will transfer control of TikTok’s U.S. algorithm to a consortium of American investors, a senior White House official confirmed to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The deal, described by the official as a compromise between American and Chinese negotiators, aims to satisfy both countries’ legal requirements while addressing national security concerns.
“I just completed a very productive call with President Xi of China. We made progress on many very important issues including Trade, Fentanyl, the need to bring the War between Russia and Ukraine to an end, and the approval of the TikTok Deal…” – President Donald J. Trump pic.twitter.com/074W2RHCit [2]
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) September 19, 2025 [3]
Under the plan, Oracle will gain access to TikTok’s recommendation algorithm — one of the most contested elements during negotiations — and will safeguard data from U.S. users through a newly structured U.S. venture.
Congress passed legislation in April 2024 requiring ByteDance, TikTok’s China-based parent company, to divest its U.S. assets within a year or face shutdown.
The Trump administration has extended the divestment deadline multiple times, including earlier this month.
As part of the new agreement, a “copy” of TikTok’s algorithm will be established for the U.S. entity.
This version will be fully inspected and retrained by Oracle using American user data, which will be stored on Oracle’s servers in the United States.
Oracle already holds TikTok’s U.S. user data under previous security arrangements.
The official said the U.S.-based venture will “operate and control” the algorithm going forward.
“An algorithm is nothing more than a mathematical formula with a set of weights, and it’s the data that’s being run through the algorithm that leads to the outputs of content recommendation,” the official explained.
“By moving the algorithm itself — a formula — into the U.S. and then running it on U.S. data, we feel that that is the appropriate way … to make sure that the algorithm is behaving appropriately and is secure, and it is something that we think complies with all the relevant laws and policies on both sides.”
Equity in the new U.S. operation will be structured to minimize ByteDance’s role.
ByteDance will retain less than 20 percent ownership, while a combination of U.S. and global investors — including existing stakeholders and new participants without ties to ByteDance — will hold the majority of shares, the official said.
President Trump stated on Sunday that Fox Corp. founder Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan are expected to participate in the venture.
Media mogul Lachlan Murdoch, Oracle’s Larry Ellison, and Dell’s Michael Dell are poised to invest in a deal to keep TikTok operating in the US, President Trump tells Fox News https://t.co/bfwlyvL7Qf [4] pic.twitter.com/ekq9kWAMko [5]
— Reuters Business (@ReutersBiz) September 22, 2025 [6]
The official emphasized that no government-appointed board members will oversee the entity, no “golden share” will be issued, and the U.S. government itself will not hold equity in the new structure.
To finalize the arrangement, the president is scheduled to sign an executive order later this week declaring that the agreement satisfies U.S. national security requirements.
The order will also extend a pause on enforcement for 120 days to allow time for the company and its investors to complete regulatory reviews in both the United States and China and to formally close the deal.
“The president and the Vice President Vance have negotiated another outstanding deal on behalf of the American people, one that saves TikTok for over 170 million U.S. users while making sure that it’s safe and secure,” the White House official said.
The agreement represents one of the most significant steps to date in addressing concerns over TikTok’s operations in the United States, with the platform’s future now set to be shaped under American oversight.