U.S. law limits media ownership by non-U.S. citizens, which has caused complications for the Chinese app TikTok's operations in the U.S. Now President Donald Trump is being accused of rolling over for the Chinese government in an effort to solve the company's problems.
The tech company Oracle, which is owned by a close ally of President Donald Trump, will play a key role in a reported deal between Trump and China, CBS News reported Tuesday. Oracle CEO Larry Ellison's son, David Ellison, runs the company Skydance Media, which recently purchased Paramount Global, which runs networks like CBS and Comedy Central, where shows have been critical of Trump.
Rush Doshi, assistant professor at Georgetown and director of CFR China Strategy Initiative, noted on X, "The TikTok deal is looking like a complete surrender by the admin. And it may even be illegal. If true, the US will let Beijing determine what appears on the news feeds of 180 million US TikTok users. Not quite America first. Even advisors to the deal are renouncing it!"
He pointed to a Financial Times report Tuesday in which parent company ByteDance said the U.S. TikTok will use part of the Chinese algorithm, but it will be trained using data from Americans.
Doshi noted the comment from an Asia-based investor who said, “Beijing’s bottom line is a licensing deal. Beijing wants to be seen as exporting Chinese technology to the U.S. and the world.”
“It’s the ultimate Taco trade,” commented a U.S. advisor close to the deal, referencing to the mocking acronym “Trump always chickens out."
"After all this, China keeps the algorithm," the U.S. advisor said.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed to reporters that U.S. investors might control the new U.S. app, but it will preserve some "Chinese characteristics," Reuters reported.