Trump’s hardball tactics just paid off. After nearly a year of stalled negotiations and multiple TikTok ban deadline extensions, the US and China reached a framework deal for TikTok. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent revealed that Trump’s willingness to let the app “go dark” motivated China to make the agreement happen.
Speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box, Bessent said, “President Trump made it clear that he would have been willing to let Tiktok go dark, that we were not going to give up national security in favor of the deal.”
The breakthrough comes after months of back and forth negotiations. Bessent explained that negotiators agreed on commercial terms back in March and April. However, China froze the deal after Trump announced his massive tariffs. Unlike his previous approach of endless extensions, Trump made it clear he would shut down TikTok completely rather than compromise on national security.
This represents a major shift from the previous TikTok ban attempts. The app briefly went offline in January before Trump provided relief. This time his patience ran out. The “go dark” threat provided the leverage needed to get China back to the table.
Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will speak Friday to finalize the deal details. Oracle remains a key player in the proposed arrangement. The company will likely handle TikTok’s US operations and data security. For the app’s 170 million American users, this framework deal suggests their favorite platform will survive. The agreement marks a rare diplomatic win despite the ongoing TikTok ban deadline pressure and US-China trade tensions.
