WASHINGTON ‒ President Donald Trump suggested China has approved a long-awaited deal for the sale of TikTok's U.S. operations to American investors following a Sept. 19 phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

"We made progress on many very important issues including Trade, Fentanyl, the need to bring the War between Russia and Ukraine to an end, and the approval of the TikTok Deal," Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social after the morning call.

Trump later added that he "appreciate(s) the TikTok approval,” but he provided no details about a deal. The White House did not respond to a message from USA TODAY seeking clarification on the president’s comments about the wildly popular video app.

China did not explicitly say whether Xi signed off on a TikTok deal, but a statement on the call from China's state news agency Xinhua deferred to TikTok's wishes and signaled Xi's support for a "solution."

"The Chinese government respects the wishes of the company in question and is glad to see business negotiations in line with market rules and a solution that conforms to Chinese laws and regulations and takes into account the interests of both sides," a summary of the call posted by Xinhua said.

Xi further "called on the U.S. side to provide an open, fair and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese enterprises to invest in the country," according to Xinhua.

In a statement after the Trump-Xi call, a spokesperson for ByteDance thanked both leaders and said, "ByteDance will work in accordance with applicable laws to ensure TikTok remains available to American users through TikTok U.S."

For several days leading up to Trump’s call with Xi, Trump officials said a "framework" for a TikTok deal was in place. Trump teased a possible deal in a Sept. 15 post on Truth Social that said, “A deal was also reached on a ‘certain’ company that young people in our Country very much wanted to save. They will be very happy!”

The Wall Street Journal reported the United States and China are eyeing a deal that would include a consortium of new TikTok and existing backers in the U.S. owning about 80%, while Beijing-based ByteDance’s ownership would drop to 20% in compliance with a U.S. law passed in 2024 during the Biden presidency.

During his second term, Trump has granted TikTok three separate extensions to delay a TikTok ban triggered by the new law, which says TikTok cannot operate in the United States unless Beijing-based parent company, ByteDance, divests its U.S. holdings.

U.S. officials in multiple administrations have expressed concerns that TikTok poses a national security threat, believing that ByteDance is sharing U.S. user data with China. TikTok has repeatedly denied these claims.

Trump, who has credited TikTok for boosting his outreach to young voters in the 2024 campaign, has said he wants to keep the social media app operating in the United States.

Trump said during the call he agreed to meet with Xi face-to-face at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea in early 2026. He said Xi agreed to come to the United States at an appropriate time.

“The call was a very good one, we will be speaking again by phone, appreciate the TikTok approval, and both look forward to meeting at APEC!” Trump said in his Truth Social post.

Contributing: Greta Cross of USA TODAY

Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump suggests TikTok deal approved after call with China's Xi, but details unclear

Reporting by Joey Garrison, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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