🚨 Trump just hinted a TikTok deal with China is DONE.
U.S. & Chinese negotiators in Madrid say his direct intervention broke the deadlock.
Without Trump’s leverage, Treasury says, “we would not have been able to conclude the deal today.”
DETAILS 🧵
2/ The Biden “ban or divest” law gave ByteDance until Jan 19, 2025 to sell TikTok.
Courts delayed. Trump then extended deadlines, keeping the app alive for 170M U.S. users.
This week in Madrid, he forced China to the table—on U.S. terms, not Beijing’s “aggressive asks.”
3/ Treasury Sec. Scott Bessent:
• “China came with a very aggressive ask.”
• “We are not willing to sacrifice national security for a social media app.”
• “Trump’s leadership gave us the leverage.”
The key: TikTok survives, but with safeguards protecting U.S. security, and no more American user data getting stored in CCP servers.
4/ China demanded TikTok keep its “Chinese characteristics”—a soft-power weapon.
The U.S. response? We don’t care about Beijing’s propaganda, we care about national security.
That includes stopping CCP access to American data while keeping young users on the platform.
Safety, not spying or censorship.
5/ Next up: Trump speaks directly with Xi on Sept. 19.
With TikTok resolved, talks move to bigger fights—Chinese oil purchases from Russia, tech theft, and tariffs.
Biden caved. Trump forced results.
Once again, America negotiates from strength. And despite what Democrats told you, it works.
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