After years of political wrangling, lawsuits, looming bans and uncertainty for millions of people, TikTok's long-running dramatic saga might finally conclude this week.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday that US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to "consummate" a long-negotiated agreement on Thursday, allowing TikTok to continue operating in the US under new ownership terms.
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"The details are ironed out," Bessent said, stating that his purpose in the negotiations was "to get the Chinese to agree to approve the transaction" and that it was "successfully accomplished."
Of course, Thursday could come and go without a TikTok deal finalization. Dates and deadlines have been flexible along the way. Trump set numerous deadlines for changes involving TikTok and has bumped those dates several times. TikTok went briefly offline in January, hours ahead of a planned ban, but returned the next day.
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TikTok's controversial history in the US
TikTok's political rollercoaster began in 2020, when Washington first raised alarms about the app's Chinese ownership and potential data vulnerabilities. Congress passed a 2024 law forcing ByteDance, TikTok's Beijing-based parent, to divest its US operations or face a total ban.
Since then, the video-sharing site has faced multiple executive orders, court challenges and failed acquisition attempts.
The time to make a deal has been running out. The US Supreme Court upheld the divestment order earlier this year, rejecting arguments that a ban would violate free speech. That ruling pushed both sides back to the negotiating table, but there have been numerous delays and shifts to the TikTok deal deadline over the last few months.
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