Trump and China have (maybe) found a solution for TikTok The outcome will be announced on Friday, after the meeting between the two leaders

According to reports from CNN and the New York Times in recent hours, the Trump administration and the Chinese government have finally reached a “framework for a deal” to avert the definitive ban of TikTok. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed that the United States and China had reached a preliminary understanding after months of negotiations. Final confirmation is expected on Friday, with a direct meeting between Trump and Xi Jinping. Sources close to the talks revealed that ByteDance is working to reduce its ownership stake below 20%, involving new American investors. However, doubts remain about the solidity of the agreement: “We’ve seen this movie before—getting close to the signature only to see everything fall apart,” commented Lindsay Gorman, former White House adviser, to the NYT.

The long American saga

The history of TikTok in the United States has been marked by constant twists and turns. Last January, just one day before Trump’s inauguration, the app was banned for nearly 24 hours across U.S. territory, only to reappear on screens under the orders of the newly elected president. Since then, ByteDance has been granted multiple 75-day extensions to finalize the sale of its U.S. subsidiary, but no definitive deal was ever reached. Trump has repeatedly stated that his administration “does not want TikTok to be shut down”, but that collaboration with Beijing is necessary to reach a compromise. A condition that, as events show, has made every step extremely complex.

The negotiations have often been entangled with other geopolitical dossiers. According to the BBC, last March a deal seemed nearly finalized, with a presidential order ready to grant another 120 days for the sale. But on the very same day, Trump announced a new wave of tariffs on Chinese imports, provoking Beijing’s immediate reaction and the withdrawal of its support. The Chinese Embassy in Washington declared that it “opposes practices that violate the fundamental principles of the market economy”, temporarily sinking the deal and leaving TikTok at the center of a clash between superpowers and of an all-American competition for its acquisition.

Several potential buyers have stepped forward in recent months. Among them Amazon, which has long pursued the ambition of building its own social network capable of integrating into its commercial ecosystem – the same logic behind its acquisition of Twitch and Goodreads. But the most surprising offer came from Tim Stokely, founder of OnlyFans, who together with Zoop and the crypto foundation Hbar submitted a last-minute proposal. Defined as a “David vs. Goliath moment”, the bid aimed to turn TikTok into a creator-first platform with a fairer revenue split. A vision that, beyond its feasibility, confirms how TikTok has now become a crucial bargaining chip in reshaping the balance of the American digital landscape.