President Trump’s plan to secure a US buyer for TikTok was “finalized” earlier this week — before his announcement of global tariffs scrapped the deal, a source familiar with the talks told The Post.
By Wednesday, Trump officials had worked out an arrangement for Trump to sign an executive order authorizing the sale of the social media app from its Chinese parent company ByteDance to a company majority-owned by US investors.
That would have moved the Beijing-based firm into a minority-ownership position, in line with legislation forcing the qualified divestment that had been passed by Congress and signed by then-President Joe Biden.
It also would have extended a Saturday deadline for the sale by another four months to figure out the financing and complete required paperwork.
But Trump’s decision to follow through on his baseline tariffs — with additional 34% duties on China — prompted ByteDance reps to call off the deal, pending further negotiations on the trade dispute.
Vice President JD Vance had led discussions on the Tiktok sale for months, courting several American investors.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
