Trump says China’s Xi has approved of proposed deal putting TikTok under US ownership

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has signed an executive order declaring that a proposed deal allowing TikTok to continue operating in the United States will be a qualified sale that meets national security concerns laid out by the law.

President Joe Biden signed legislation last year calling for China’s ByteDance to sell TikTok’s assets to an American company by early this year or face a nationwide ban, but Trump has repeatedly signed orders that have allowed TikTok to keep operating in the U.S. as his administration tries to reach an agreement for the sale of the social media company.

Much is still unknown about the actual arrangement, but Trump said Chinese President Xi Jinping “gave us the go-ahead” to proceed with the deal. Any major change to the popular video platform could have a huge impact on how Americans — particularly young adults and teenagers — consume information online.

About 43% of U.S. adults under the age of 30 say they regularly get news from TikTok, higher than any other social media app including YouTube, Facebook and Instagram, according to a Pew Research Center report published Thursday.