TikTok not shutting down tomorrow afterall

Yesterday we reported that TikTok and WeChat will be shuttered in USA tomorrow based on an executive order from President Donald Trump.

As has become traditional, that news was just another twist in the TikTok saga, with Reuters reporting today that President Trump has approved the deal between ByteDance, Oracle and Walmart which was designed to assuage security concerns.

“I have given the deal my blessing,” Trump said. “I approve the deal in concept.”

“The security will be 100%,” Trump noted.

The deal will result in the creation of a new US-based company which Trump said will be “totally controlled by Oracle and Walmart…. All of the control is Oracle and Walmart.”

The new company will be called TikTok Global, and will have a majority of American directors, a U.S. chief executive and a security expert on the board.  The deal would reportedly also create 25,000 US jobs.

ByteDance will still retain a stake but has agreed to significant security safeguards on the data of U.S. users with Oracle housing all data and getting the right to inspect the TikTok source code.

There is still one further wrinkle to the story, as China would still need to approve the deal.

“We’ll see whether or not it all happens,” Trump said.