A framework deal has been reached between China and the U.S. for the ownership of TikTok. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday after trade talks in Madrid that U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese Premier Xi Jinping would speak Friday to possibly finalize the deal. Bessent says the objective was to switch to U.S. ownership from China's ByteDance. China's international trade representative told reporters that the sides have reached "basic framework consensus." During Joe Biden's presidency, Congress and the White House used national security grounds to approve a U.S. ban on TikTok unless its Chinese parent company sold its controlling stake.

Less than a month after extending a deadline to ban TikTok for the third time, President Donald Trump told reporters late Friday night that, "We pretty much have a deal," on TikTok. The details and timing of a potential deal are not clear. TikTok did not immediately respond to messages for comment on Monday. For now, TikTok continues to function for its 170 million users in the U.S. Tech giants Apple, Google and Oracle were persuaded to continue to offer and support the app, on the promise that Trump's Justice Department would not use the law to seek potentially steep fines against them.

President Donald Trump says he is signing an executive order to keep TikTok running in the U.S. for another 75 days. That gives his administration more time to broker a deal to bring the social media platform under American ownership. The order was announced as White House officials believed they were nearing a deal for the app's operations to be spun off into a new company based in the U.S. and owned and operated by a majority of American investors, with China's ByteDance maintaining a minority position. That's according to a person familiar with the negotiations who requested anonymity to discuss the sensitive talks. The person added that China hit the brakes after Trump announced wide-ranging tariffs.

In less than a month, TikTok could have one or a few new owners, be banned again, or simply receive another reprieve to continue operating in the U.S. Questions about the fate of the popular app has continued to linger since a law requiring its China-based parent company to divest or face a ban took effect on Jan. 19. After taking office, President Donald Trump gave the company a 75-day reprieve through an executive order. Trump told reporters on Sunday that a deal could over TikTok come soon. He did not offer any details on the interested buyers, But said the administration was in talks with "four different groups" about TikTok and that "all four are good."