- Trump and Xi made progress on TikTok negotiations but failed to reach a final deal.
- China stressed compliance with its laws, while the U.S. emphasized an open, fair market.
- TikTok’s future depends on ByteDance divesting its U.S. business before Dec. 16.
President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping held a long-anticipated call Friday aimed at hammering out a TikTok agreement. While the White House said “significant progress” was made, no final deal has been reached. Trump took to Truth Social to praise the discussion, saying the two leaders talked trade, fentanyl, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and TikTok’s fate. He also revealed that both sides plan to meet during the APEC summit in South Korea and have agreed on reciprocal visits in 2026.
Conflicting Messages From Washington and Beijing
While Trump said the conversation included “approval of the TikTok deal,” Chinese state media painted a more cautious picture. According to Xinhua, Beijing reiterated that it wants companies to negotiate within “market rules” and emphasized compliance with Chinese law. The statement also pushed back against what it described as U.S. discrimination against Chinese businesses, underlining the differences still lingering between both governments.
TikTok’s Fate Hangs on Divestment
At the heart of the negotiations is ByteDance’s U.S. arm of TikTok, which under federal law must be divested or shut down. The deadline has already been pushed back multiple times by Trump, most recently to Dec. 16. Trump has repeatedly stressed he wants TikTok to remain available in the U.S., even crediting the app with helping him win the 2024 election. Still, bipartisan lawmakers remain concerned about data security and foreign influence, which is why the divestment law was signed in 2024 by then-President Biden.
What Comes Next
Despite earlier optimism from the Trump administration that a deal was “all but done,” Friday’s call showed negotiations are still ongoing. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had already confirmed a “framework” earlier in the week, and Trump himself hinted the Xi call would simply finalize details. Instead, both leaders leave the table with progress but without closure. For now, TikTok’s future in the U.S. remains in limbo — hinging on how these negotiations evolve before the latest December deadline.
