Scott Bessent says Trump's willingness to shut down TikTok 'turned the tide' on deal talks

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent claimed Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s willingness to let TikTok go dark was crucial in doing a framework deal with China — after Beijing indicated that the U.S. version of the app may still use a Chinese algorithm.

Speaking to CNBC, 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.”

“We were able to reach a series of agreements, mostly for things we will not be doing in the future that have no effect on our national security,” he added.

ByteDance still faces an official Sept. 17 deadline to divest its U.S. operations of the app or see them shut down in the country. The Biden administration last year passed a bipartisan law forcing it to sell the app to a U.S. buyer or face a ban. Since returning to office, Trump has repeatedly extended the deadline for enforcement.

However, Bessent insisted that Trump was willing to let the app go down, despite the multiple deadline extensions, adding that this "turned the tide."

Among the agreements, as part of a framework agreement between the U.S. and China, appears to be that the future American version of the app will still use ByteDance’s algorithm, according to Beijing.

Wang Jingtao, deputy head of China’s cyber security watchdog, told reporters on Monday night that the framework agreement included “licensing the algorithm and other intellectual property rights,” per the Financial Times.

He said ByteDance would “entrust the operation of TikTok’s U.S. user data and content security,” but did not elaborate, the newspaper reported.

TikTok’s algorithm, which dictates who sees what on the app, has been a sticking point in talks. The U.S. has argued the technology could be used to shape political content, while China has moved to block its transfer abroad. 

U.S. officials had previously insisted any deal must curb ByteDance’s role, but how much control the Chinese parent might keep under a licensing model remains uncertain.

Trump is set to speak with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Friday. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Monday that the two countries may need more time to finalize the deal.

Speaking Tuesday, Bessent added: “What turned the tide was a call that ambassador Greer and I had with President Trump the night after the first day of negotiations. 

“And 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.”