Negotiations In 2024, the
United States Congress passed the
Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, a law that required services defined as a "foreign adversary controlled application"—including those operated by
ByteDance, explicitly named in the law—to be rendered inoperable unless the application is divested. Three days before
Donald Trump's
second inauguration in January 2025, the
Supreme Court ruled in
TikTok, Inc. v. Garland that the law was constitutional. The following day,
TikTok ceased operating in the United States with a messaging reserving that Trump had "indicated that he will work with us on a solution". TikTok gradually returned after Trump publicly stated he would delay enforcement of the ban; Trump's initial actions included an executive order directing his
attorney general not to enforce the law. Additionally, Trump threatened to impose tariffs on
China if the
country's government failed to agree to sell at least fifty percent of TikTok to an American company. That month,
NPR reported that a consortium of investors, including
Oracle and
Microsoft, were working with the
Trump administration on an acquisition plan for TikTok. Microsoft's intentions were publicly confirmed by Trump. The process garnered attention from other American investors. A consortium led by the Employer.com founder Jesse Tinsley and composed of the YouTuber
MrBeast;
David Baszucki, the co-founder and chief executive of
Roblox; and Nathan McCauley, the co-founder and chief executive of
Anchorage Digital was said by Tinsley to have exceeded a rival offer of billion, ostensibly in reference to Project Liberty's effort to acquire TikTok, organized by
Frank McCourt and
Kevin O'Leary. Trump's initial comments offered several opposing perspectives, including that a
bidding war should occur, that the
United States government should own a percentage of the resulting company, and that Microsoft and
Elon Musk were potential buyers.
Establishment On January 22, 2026, TikTok stated that ByteDance had reached an agreement to establish an American version of TikTok. As part of the agreement, the new company is to pay US$10 billion to the
Trump administration. Reporters and commentators have pointed out that the sale of TikTok's US operations to a group of Trump allies furthers the
administration's control and influence over US media, and is part of a pattern that includes other acquisitions favoring Trump allies and intimidation of media outlets. ==Operations and technology==