Trump Says US Will Hold Talks With China on Possible TikTok Deal Next Week

President Donald Trump told reporters on July 4 that U.S. officials would begin talks with China about a potential TikTok deal next week.

Trump said the United States “pretty much” has a deal for the sale of TikTok’s U.S. operations but noted that it will likely require approval from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in order to proceed.

“I think we’re going to start Monday or Tuesday talking to China, perhaps President Xi or one of his representatives,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One, referring to CCP leader Xi Jinping.

When asked if he was confident that China would approve the sale of the video-sharing application’s U.S. operations, Trump said he believed that it would benefit both countries.

“I’m not confident, but I think so,” Trump said. “President Xi and I have a great relationship. I think the deal is good for China, and it’s good for us.”

In June, Trump signed an executive order extending the deadline for ByteDance, TikTok’s Beijing-based parent company, to divest itself of the app’s U.S. assets until Sept. 17. The app could face a nationwide ban under a federal divest-or-ban law if the company fails to do so.

In response, TikTok thanked Trump for extending the deadline, saying it would “continue to work with” Vice President JD Vance’s office on securing a deal. The short video-sharing app is estimated to have 170 million U.S. users and is used by 7.5 million U.S. businesses.

The recent extension was the third time Trump has granted a reprieve to the enforcement of a law that Congress passed in 2024 mandating that ByteDance divest itself of its ownership of TikTok by January 2025, or the application would go dark in the United States. Lawmakers cited national security concerns due to ByteDance’s ties to the CCP.

Trump told Fox News on June 29 that he has found a buyer for TikTok and plans to announce the buyer—whom he described as “a group of very wealthy people”—within two weeks.

The president previously said the CCP was close to approving a deal for the sale of TikTok but backed out because of the tariffs he imposed on Chinese imports.

“We had a deal pretty much for TikTok—not a deal but pretty close—and then China changed the deal because of the tariffs,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on April 6. “If I gave a little cut in tariffs, they’d approve that deal in 15 minutes, which shows you the power of tariffs.”

The two nations reached an agreement in May to temporarily pause their trade measures on one another and cut reciprocal tariffs for 90 days amid ongoing trade talks.

TikTok has faced scrutiny amid concerns that the CCP could potentially access U.S. consumer data and the algorithm owned by ByteDance.

Jacob Burg contributed to this report.