News analysis

How to Make Sense of Trump’s TikTok Deal

Tech Policy Press · Anupam Chander · last updated

TikTok last month reportedly signed a deal to transfer ownership and control of its United States app to a group of investors, led by software services company Oracle, investment firm Silver Lake and Emirati investment firm MGX. According to reports, the new US entity will be called TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC and the deal is expected to close on January 22.

That would meet the deadline set by President Donald Trump’s latest executive order delaying enforcement of the TikTok ban-or-sell law that Congress passed in April 2024. TikTok reported as recently as early last year that it had some 170 million users in the United States, an indicator of how the app’s fate has significant implications for entertainment, commerce and speech.

Here’s a rundown of what you need to know about the deal and where things stand on a ban:

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Related Knowledge Center: The TikTok ban

State of Play

The U.S. Congress passed and President Joe Biden signed into law a measure banning TikTok if it weren’t sold by its Chinese ownership. But now-President Donald Trump gave the service a reprieve, and a sale of its U.S. operations appears imminent.

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