The United States and China have reached a preliminary agreement that would see TikTok shift to U.S-controlled ownership, according to U.S Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
Speaking after bilateral talks in Madrid on Monday, Bessent said the “framework” deal aims to address long-standing security concerns over the Chinese-owned app, which has faced mounting pressure from U.S lawmakers and regulators.
“I think the framework is for it to switch to U.S-controlled ownership,” Bessent said, though he did not provide additional details on the structure of the proposed ownership change.
The announcement comes just days before a U.S government-imposed deadline requiring TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to either sell the platform or face a nationwide ban.
While the details remain limited, the framework is expected to outline how American investors or entities would assume majority control of TikTok’s U.S operations, ensuring that user data and content moderation are managed domestically.
President Donald Trump, in a post on social media Monday, hinted at the deal without explicitly naming TikTok, saying an agreement had been reached with a company “young people in our country very much wanted to save.”
“They will be very happy!” Trump added.
The move is seen as a significant development in ongoing efforts by Washington to curb foreign influence over technology platforms that hold large amounts of data on American users.
Critics have long accused TikTok of posing a national security threat due to its Chinese ownership, a charge the company has repeatedly denied.
