Senator presses Trump for answers on TikTok divestiture plan
A Democratic senator has called on U.S. President Donald Trump to clarify key details surrounding a plan for TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to sell a majority stake in the app’s U.S. operations.
Trump signed an executive order on Sept. 25 confirming that the proposed sale to a group of U.S. and international investors meets national security requirements under a 2024 law. The order gave the parties 120 days to finalize the deal and postponed enforcement of a ban on the app until Jan. 20, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.
Senator Ed Markey said the White House has failed to answer critical questions and accused Trump of repeatedly extending the divestment deadline without sufficient justification.
Markey said the administration’s “vague comments” about the deal raised doubts about whether it can both keep TikTok online for its 170 million U.S. users and address national security concerns linked to ByteDance’s ownership.
He also questioned whether China had formally approved the agreement and sought clarity on how the licensing of TikTok’s algorithm would work, including whether the U.S. entity would need ongoing renewals and whether future ByteDance changes could affect the licensed version.
Under the proposed structure, ByteDance would retain less than 20% of TikTok U.S., in line with legal requirements. Some lawmakers, including Representative John Moolenaar, have raised concerns that licensing the algorithm from ByteDance could undermine the goal of reducing security risks.
The White House did not immediately comment.
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