Americans Would Dominate Board of New TikTok US Entity: White House

AFP/APP

Washington: 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.

“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 United States has long sought to take TikTok’s US operations out of the hands of Chinese parent company ByteDance for national security reasons. Under President Joe Biden, Congress passed a law requiring ByteDance to sell its US operations or face a ban of the app.

US policymakers, including former President Donald Trump, have warned that China could use TikTok to mine data from Americans or manipulate what they see on social media. Ironically, Trump turned to the platform—hugely popular among young Americans—during his successful 2024 presidential campaign.

The Republican president has repeatedly delayed implementing the ban while a deal has been negotiated. Investors reportedly being considered include Oracle, the tech firm owned by billionaire Larry Ellison, a close Trump supporter.

Leavitt appeared to confirm Oracle’s participation, saying:

“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. So all of those details have already been agreed upon. Now we just need this deal to be signed.”

Trump later told reporters at the White House:

“We have great American patriots that are buying it. Very substantial people.”

He declined to disclose who the seventh board member would be, saying the announcement would come later.

The TikTok deal was also discussed in a call between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday. Trump claimed Xi had “approved” the deal but added: “We have to get it signed.” China, however, has not confirmed any agreement.

“We’re going to have 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, citing sources familiar with the talks, reported that the US government could receive a multi-billion-dollar fee from investors as part of the deal.