How Vance, Trump Orchestrated Deal to Save TikTok

The White House has finally produced a framework deal to save TikTok after Congress banned usage of the Chinese-owned app in the United States, a White House official tells The Daily Signal.

“President [Donald] Trump and Vice President [JD] Vance provided the leadership and foresight necessary to produce a framework deal that fulfills another campaign promise and saves TikTok,” a spokesman for Vance told The Daily Signal. “Hundreds of millions of Americans will now be able to continue safely enjoying the highly popular app thanks to the president’s decisive leadership.”

This comes just two days before the Sept. 17 deadline that could have banned TikTok in the United States.

The Trump administration has not yet named the U.S.-backed buyer.

On Sunday, Vance participated in a call with Trump, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Trade Ambassador Jamieson Greer regarding the latter two’s meeting in Madrid Sunday with Chinese officials about the TikTok deal framework, according to a White House official.

Vance and Trump both supported giving the U.S. delegation the necessary leverage to deliver a framework for a TikTok deal.

Vance himself was very involved in developing a strategy to reach the TikTok deal framework leading up to the U.S.-China summit in Madrid.

The White House has three-times extended the deadline to reach a deal with Chinese-owned ByteDance to sell TikTok to an American-backed owner. Congress passed a law April 24, 2024, requiring ByteDance to divest its stake in the U.S. assets of TikTok due to national security concerns.

The vice president’s counsel, who has been heavily involved in negotiations on behalf of Vance, played an important role in the Madrid talks, the White House official said.

Trump posted on Truth Social that the meeting in Madrid went “VERY WELL.”

“A deal was also reached on a ‘certain’ company that young people in our Country very much wanted to save,” he wrote. “They will be very happy! I will be speaking to President Xi [Jinping] on Friday. The relationship remains a very strong one!!!”