Trump, Xi Hold Pivotal Call To Finalize TikTok Deal: Report

President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping reportedly held a high-stakes call Friday morning to hammer out the final terms of a deal that would allow TikTok to keep operating in the U.S.

According to a report by CNBC, a White House official said the call began at 8:00 a.m. ET. The development follows U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's announcement earlier this week that a “tentative framework” had been reached between the two nations regarding the ByteDance subsidiary’s U.S. operations.

Oracle (ORCL), widely reported to be part of the consortium poised to acquire TikTok’s U.S. operations, edged higher in morning trade. Oracle’s stock was up 2.5% after the opening bell on Friday. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around the company surged higher within ‘extremely bullish’ territory, accompanied by ‘high’ levels of chatter over the past day. 

Meanwhile, retail sentiment around Bytedance, which is not publicly listed, trended in ‘neural’ territory, accompanied by ‘extremely high’ levels of chatter.

China’s sign-off on the framework is among the final hurdles Trump must clear to keep the app running in the U.S. The U.S. Congress had ordered TikTok to shut down for U.S. users by January 2025 if ByteDance fails to divest its American assets. However, Trump, who has credited TikTok with helping his 2024 election victory, has repeatedly delayed the divestment deadline. 

On Monday, he claimed a deal had been reached in a Truth Social post, and a day later, signed an executive order extending the deadline to December 16 from the earlier cutoff of September 16. During his visit to the United Kingdom on Thursday, Trump signaled his desire to keep the app available in the U.S. “We’re speaking to President Xi on Friday to see if we can finalize something on TikTok, because there is tremendous value, and I hate to give away value, but I like TikTok,” he said during the press conference.

Key details of the potential agreement remain unclear, including the final ownership structure, the extent of Chinese government oversight, and whether Congress will approve the arrangement.

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