Tipsheet

TikTok Might Be Saved After All

Jeff Charles
Jeff Charles  |  September 19, 2025 1:45 PM

President Donald Trump on Friday announced that he had “a very productive call” with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The two leaders discussed several issues related to trade and the war in Ukraine. They also discussed the future of video-sharing app TikTok, which Congress banned earlier this year. In a post on Truth Social, the president indicated he would visit China next year.

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. I also agreed with President Xi that we would meet at the APEC Summit in South Korea, that I would go to China in the early part of next year, and that President Xi would, likewise, come to the United States at an appropriate time. The call was a very good one, we will be speaking again by phone, appreciate the TikTok approval, and both look forward to meeting at APEC!

Before the phone call, Trump told Fox News that he and Xi were “very close to deals on all of it” and that “it sounds like they’ve approved TikTok.”

Congress passed legislation banning the app unless ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns it, sells it to US-based owners. After taking office, President Trump indicated he would not enforce the law and began working toward a deal that would allow the app to remain. Trump extended the deadline for a fourth time until December 16. 

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The details of the deal have not yet been disclosed. China on Thursday confirmed that it has reached a “basic framework consensus” on TikTok. 

During an interview on Fox News before the call with Xi, President Trump said he would “hate to give away value, but I like TikTok. It helped me get elected.”

In fact, Charlie [Kirk] said, Sir, you ought to get on TikTok. You'd be great. I said, Really? Tell me about TikTok. And as you know, we did unbelievably well with youth, at a level that no Republican has ever even dreamt of. And look, I think we won it for a lot of reasons, but that was the reason we won the election by such a big number. TikTok has tremendous value. The United States has that value in its hands because we're the ones that have to approve it. I specifically get the right to approve it. The people that are investing in it are among the greatest investors in the world, the biggest, the richest, and they'll do a great job. And we're doing it in conjunction with China. But the United States is getting a tremendous fee plus. I call it a fee plus for just making the deal. And I don't want to throw that out the window.