President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday declaring that his plan to sell Chinese-owned TikTok\u2019s US operations to US and global investors will address the national security requirements in a 2024 law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The new US company will be valued at around $14 billion, Vice President JD Vance said, putting a price tag on the popular short video app far below some analyst estimates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump on Thursday delayed until January 20 enforcement of the law that bans the app unless its Chinese owners sell it amid efforts to extract TikTok\u2019s US assets from the global platform, line up American and other investors, and win approval from the Chinese government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The publication of the executive order shows Trump is making progress on the sale of TikTok\u2019s US assets, but numerous details need to be fleshed out, including how the US entity would use TikTok\u2019s most important asset, its recommendation algorithm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere was some resistance on the Chinese side, but the fundamental thing that we wanted to accomplish is that we wanted to keep TikTok operating, but we also wanted to make sure that we protected Americans\u2019 data privacy as required by law,\u201d Vance told reporters at an Oval Office briefing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump\u2019s order says the algorithm will be retrained and monitored by the US company\u2019s security partners, and operation of the algorithm will be under the control of the new joint venture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump said Chinese President Xi Jinping had indicated approval of the plans. \u201cI spoke with President Xi,\u201d Trump said. \u201cWe had a good talk, I told him what we were doing and he said go ahead with it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
China\u2019s foreign ministry on Friday reiterated that the government \u201crespects the will of enterprises and welcomes them to conduct business negotiations on the basis of market rules to reach solutions that comply with Chinese laws and regulations and achieve a balance of interests\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe hope the US will provide an open, fair and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese companies investing in the United States,\u201d ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told a press conference, without giving further details of the deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
TikTok did not immediately comment on Trump\u2019s action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump has credited TikTok, which has 170 million US users, with helping him win reelection last year. Trump has 15 million followers on his personal TikTok account. The White House also launched an official TikTok account last month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is going to be American-operated all the way,\u201d Trump said. He said that Michael Dell, the founder, chairman and CEO of Dell Technologies; Rupert Murdoch, the chairman emeritus of Fox News<\/em> owner Fox Corp<\/em> and newspaper publisher News Corp<\/em>, and \u201cprobably four or five absolutely world-class investors\u201d would be part of the deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The White House did not discuss how it came up with the $14 billion valuation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n