Washington – President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the United States and China had reached a deal over TikTok, which Washington says must pass to US-controlled ownership. “We have a deal on TikTok, I’ve reached a deal with China, I’m going to speak to President Xi (Jinping) on Friday to confirm everything up,” Trump told reporters as he left the White House for a state visit to Britain. The deal was negotiated over two days of talks in Madrid between US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng. TikTok — which boasts almost two billion global users — is owned by China-based ByteDance. A US federal law requiring TikTok’s sale or ban on national security grounds was due to take effect the day before Trump’s inauguration on January 20. But the Republican, whose 2024 election campaign relied heavily on social media and who has said he is fond of TikTok, put the ban on pause.
