 "<div>Americans get 6 of 7 board seats for new TikTok's US operations: White House</div>")
A deal for the Chinese parent company of popular video-sharing app TikTok to sell its US operations would see the creation of a board dominated by Americans, the White House said Saturday.
A prospective agreement between Washington and Beijing on TikTok’s US operations will see Americans holding six of the seven seats on the board overseeing the app in the country, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed on Saturday.
“There will be seven seats on the board that controls the app in the United States, and six of those seats will be Americans,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News.
She said a deal could be signed “in the coming days.”
The move is part of the US government’s effort to separate TikTok’s American operations from its Chinese parent, ByteDance, over national security concerns. Congress, under President Joe Biden, had passed legislation requiring ByteDance to divest its US operations or face a ban on the app.
US policymakers have long voiced concerns that China could exploit TikTok to gather data on Americans or influence content on the platform. Despite these warnings, President Donald Trump leveraged TikTok to mobilise young voters during his 2024 campaign, which helped him secure a successful reelection.
The upcoming agreement is expected to resolve ongoing tensions over the app’s ownership structure while addressing Washington’s security priorities.
The Republican president has repeatedly pushed off implementation of the ban while a deal has been sought.
Investors reportedly being eyed to take over the app include Oracle, the tech firm owned by Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people – and a major Trump supporter.
Leavitt seemed to confirm Oracle’s participation.
“The data and privacy will be led by one of America’s greatest tech companies, Oracle, and the algorithm will also be controlled by America as well,” she told Fox News.
“So all of those details have already been agreed upon. Now we just need this deal to be signed.”
Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed the matter in a phone call on Friday.
Trump said that Xi “approved” the deal during the phone call but then said, “We have to get it signed.” China did not confirm any agreement.
“We’re going to have a very, very tight control,” Trump said. “There’s tremendous value with TikTok, and I’m a little prejudiced because I frankly did so well on it.”
The Wall Street Journal, quoting sources familiar with the talks, reported that the US government could receive a multi-billion-dollar fee from investors as part of the deal.
With inputs from agencies
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