On Monday, September 15th, as the U.S.-China delegation conducted economic and trade negotiations in Madrid, Spain, President Trump hinted at a potential agreement regarding TikTok on his social media platform “Truth Social.” He mentioned that a call with the Chinese leader Xi Jinping is scheduled for Friday.
“Progress at the large trade meeting between the U.S. and China in Europe is going very well! It’s about to conclude,” Trump said. “Both sides have reached an agreement on a ‘specific’ company, a company that our young people domestically hope to preserve. They will be very happy!”
Trump also announced that he will have a call with Xi Jinping on Friday, September 19th.
On September 14th, Trump warned China that if no agreement is reached, TikTok will be banned in the U.S.
In 2024, the U.S. Congress passed the “sell or ban” bill targeting TikTok, requiring the company ByteDance to sell its U.S. operations of TikTok by the deadline set by Congress, which is January 19, 2025, or else the app will face a complete ban in the U.S. Three times after taking office, Trump signed executive orders delaying the ban on TikTok until September 17.
Resolving the TikTok issue was one of the topics discussed by the U.S.-China trade teams in Madrid. Trump had previously urged China to approve the separation of ByteDance from TikTok.