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TikTok has successfully secured a deal just in the nick of time to avoid a ban in the United States, narrowly meeting the deadline imposed by President Donald Trump.
During his first term, Trump pledged to prohibit the widely-used video-sharing platform, a promise that was later upheld by his successor, President Joe Biden. In 2024, Biden enacted legislation that presented TikTok with a stark ultimatum: either extricate the U.S. version of the app from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, or face a nationwide ban.
The potential ban became a reality, albeit briefly, when TikTok’s more than 200 million American users experienced a temporary blackout last year, offering a glimpse of what life without the app might entail.
However, the narrative took another turn when Trump, upon beginning his second term, reinstated the app, ensuring its availability to its vast American user base.
That is, until Trump kicked off his second term by bringing the app back.
He has since repeatedly delayed the enforcement of Biden’s law and in doing so, given TikTok ample time to secure an American buyer to take over its US assets.
The last extension he gave had a deadline of January 23, 2026 – and the deal came in just under the wire today.
A majority American-owned joint venture has been established to take over TikTok’s US assets and create a new US version of the app.
”The majority American-owned joint venture will operate under defined safeguards that protect national security through comprehensive data protections, algorithm security, content moderation, and software assurances for US users,” the group said, via CNN.
The group’s leadership team will include chief executive Adam Presser and chief security officer Will Farrell, both of whom have worked with TikTok before.
It will also be overseen by a board including TikTok US chief executive Shou Chew and a number of representatives from investment firms in the US and abroad.
Major investors include Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX.
TikTok signed the deal handing over its US user data and most of its US operations last month.
He has yet to comment on the deal’s finalisation.