Trump Shuts Door on TikTok Deal with Chinese Ownership

April 9, 2025 – Washington, D.C. – In a dramatic escalation of tensions with Beijing, President Donald Trump has declared that any potential deal to keep TikTok operating in the United States is officially "off the table" if China retains even a sliver of ownership. The announcement, made early Wednesday, marks a sharp pivot from months of negotiations aimed at spinning off the wildly popular video-sharing app into American hands while allowing its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, a minority stake.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump signaled an end to the delicate dance between trade policy and tech ownership that has defined the TikTok saga. "We’re done playing games," he said. "If China wants to keep any piece of TikTok, there’s no deal. It’s all or nothing—American control or nothing at all." The move comes amid a broader trade war, with Trump’s recently imposed 54% tariffs on Chinese imports drawing fierce retaliation from Beijing, including a 34% levy on U.S. goods set to take effect April 10.

For months, the White House, led by Vice President JD Vance, had been hammering out a plan to transfer TikTok’s U.S. operations to a consortium of American investors, including heavyweights like Oracle and Blackstone. The proposed deal would have slashed ByteDance’s stake to below 20%, satisfying a 2024 bipartisan law mandating divestiture or a nationwide ban. Sources close to the talks say an agreement was tantalizingly close—until Trump’s tariff announcement last week threw a wrench into the works. China, in response, reportedly froze negotiations, demanding tariff relief as a precondition for approval.

Trump’s latest stance dashes hopes of a compromise. "We had something cooking, but China changed the game because of tariffs," he said Sunday. "I could’ve cut them a little slack, and they’d have signed in 15 minutes. But no more. They don’t get to call the shots." The president’s remarks underscore a hardening position: national security and economic leverage now outweigh any desire to preserve TikTok’s 170 million U.S. users’ access to the platform.

The decision has sent shockwaves through the tech and business worlds. Posts on X reflect a mix of frustration and speculation, with some users lamenting the app’s uncertain fate and others applauding Trump’s hardline approach. Analysts warn that a full ban—or a failure to secure a deal by the latest mid-June deadline—could disrupt thousands of small businesses reliant on TikTok’s reach, while handing a potential advantage to rival platforms like Meta’s Instagram.

Beijing, for its part, has condemned the U.S. tariffs as "unilateral bullying" and signaled it won’t budge without concessions. ByteDance, caught in the crossfire, issued a terse statement: "We’ve been working with the U.S. government, but key matters remain unresolved. Any deal requires Chinese approval." That approval now seems further out of reach than ever.

As the clock ticks down, Trump’s gambit raises the stakes in an already fraught U.S.-China relationship. With trade tensions boiling over and TikTok’s future hanging in the balance, the president appears ready to bet it all on a strategy of maximum pressure—leaving millions of users, investors, and lawmakers wondering what comes next. 17GEN4.com