THE LAGOS STATE WASTEWATER MANAGEMENT OFFICE (LSWMO), YESTERDAY, SEALED OFF SOME BUILDINGS/PROPERTIES ACROSS THE STATE OVER DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTAL INFRACTIONS.(PHOTO). #PRESS RELEASE
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday that the TikTok deal announced last month is expected to be finalized on Thursday when President Trump meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Bessent, speaking from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where President Trump is on a three-country Asia trip, said the agreement is fully settled and only awaits formal completion by the two leaders at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea. “We reached a final deal on TikTok. We reached one in Madrid, and as of today, all the details are ironed out,” Bessent said. He clarified that he is not involved in the commercial aspects of the deal, but his role was securing Chinese approval, which he said was successfully achieved.
Last month, President Trump signed an executive order allowing TikTok to continue operating in the U.S. under a new corporate structure with American investors. The deal, a “qualified divestiture,” fulfills a law passed by Congress in April 2024 requiring TikTok’s China-based parent company, ByteDance, to divest or face a ban. Enforcement of the law was delayed by 120 days to allow the agreement to be finalized.
The U.S.-based joint venture will be majority-owned and controlled by American investors, with a board dominated by Americans. ByteDance and its affiliates will retain less than 20% ownership. Oracle is among the American investors with a stake in the new entity.
Republican Rep. John Moolenaar of Michigan, chairman of the House China committee, voiced caution over continued Chinese ownership. “As long as the Chinese are involved, I think there’s reason for distrust,” he said, noting concerns about ByteDance’s remaining stake and potential influence from the Chinese Communist Party. He added, however, that he trusts the president is following the bipartisan law to make TikTok accessible to Americans under the new structure.
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