Trump administration to receive $10 billion for brokering TikTok deal

The Trump administration will get a commission of approximately $10 billion for its role in the deal that prevented TikTok from being banned in the United States, according to the report. Wall Street Journal citing sources close to the matter. Reuters has echoed the information, which has not been confirmed by either the White House or TikTok.

The payment is part of the deal in which a group of investors aligned with management took control of TikTok’s U.S. operations through a new entity called TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC. TikTok’s parent company, the Chinese company ByteDance, closed the creation of TikTok in January. this company with a majority American shareholding, designed to manage dataTikTok applications and algorithms in the US market under enhanced privacy and cybersecurity measures.

Investors participating in the operation include Oracle, Silver Lake and the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund MGX. According to the Journal, these and other shareholders paid about $2.5 billion to the Treasury Department when the deal closed, and will make additional payments until the total reaches $10 billion. In September of last year, Vice President JD Vance had placed the value of the new American company at around $14 billion.

The official justification and the claims against

Administration officials have defended the commission, arguing that it reflects Trump’s role in saving TikTok’s operations in the US market, conducting negotiations with China and managing national security concerns raised by Congress.

The operation is not free of legal controversy. In early March, Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi were sued by retail investors in two rival TikTok platforms seeking to reverse the presidential approval of the ByteDance deal. The plaintiffs argue that the deal favors TikTok over its competitors under conditions they consider irregular.

TikTok is used by more than 200 million people in the United States. The new corporate structure seeks to respond to Congress’ demands regarding foreign ownership of a platform with access to data of that magnitude, although specific details about the actual degree of ByteDance’s divestment remain scarce. However, the platform’s problems do not end because, much closer to us, it also faces investigations by the authorities.