By Nik Popli

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But speaking at the White House signing ceremony, Trump downplayed those concerns and insisted that the newly structured platform would not become an echo chamber for his own political movement. “I always like MAGA-related. If I could, I’d make it 100% MAGA related,” Trump said in the Oval Office. “But it’s not going to work out that way. Unfortunately, no, everyone’s going to be treated fairly. Every group, every philosophy, every policy, will be treated very fairly.”

The deal comes after years of warnings from national security officials that TikTok, owned by the Chinese firm ByteDance, could be used by China to spy on Americans or manipulate what its 170 million U.S. users see in their feeds. Trump’s executive order is the latest step in a protracted battle to resolve those concerns while keeping the app available to its vast American audience.

The order declares the proposed arrangement a “qualified divestiture” under a bipartisan law passed by Congress last year that mandates ByteDance sell roughly 80% of its U.S. business to non-Chinese owners or face a ban in the U.S. Under the emerging arrangement, ByteDance will retain less than 20% ownership, while the consortium of American investors would control the U.S. spin-off. But while Trump’s executive order marks a milestone in a saga stretching back years, the deal remains far from finalized, with key details—including the full investor lineup and regulatory approvals—still uncertain.