WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Welcome to the "News Hour."

After a call with Chinese President Xi Jinping# today, President Trump said a deal.. an American version of the wildly popular social# media app TikTok is -- quote -- "well on its way."

A Chinese company developed and owns the app,## which raised concerns in the U.S.

over# national security and data privacy.

Nick Schifrin begins our coverage.

NICK SCHIFRIN: From communicative cappuccinos... (SINGING) NICK SCHIFRIN: ...## to presidential pop, TikTok# is a social media juggernaut.

MAN: It's a piece of cake.

NICK SCHIFRIN: With nearly two billion global# users, including 170 million Americans.

And,## thanks to President Trump, it turns# out that TikTok has nine lives.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United# States: The young people of this## country want it badly.

The parents# of those young peo.. NICK SCHIFRIN: Despite a law requiring# TikTok to be banned in the U.S.

if it## doesn't sever ties with its Chinese# parent company, President Trump now## says he made a deal today with Chinese# President Xi Jinping to save TikTok.

DONALD TRUMP: We're going# to have very good control.## We have American -- these are American investors.

NICK SCHIFRIN: An official familiar# with the deal tells "PBS News Hour"## TikTok U.S.

will be controlled by a consortium,# including Oracle, Silver Lake, and Andreessen## Horowitz.

They would control about 80 percent.# Chinese shareholders would about 20 percent.

There would be a new app.

Oracle would# keep all American user data inside the## U.S.

and be able to monitor and stop# suspicious activity.

TikTok U.S.

would## have a majority American board with one# member designated by the U.S.

government,## and the app's algorithm would be licensed# from Chinese parent company ByteDance.

That has led critics concerned that TikTok# is built with an internal sleight of hand... MAN: How are you doing that?

NICK SCHIFRIN: ... that the# Chinese algorithm could allow## Beijing to steal Americans' data# and manipulate TikTok's content.

This week, the Republican chairman of the House# Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party,## Michigan Republican John Moolenaar, wrote# -- quote -- "I'm concerned the reported## licensing deal may involve ongoing reliance# by the new TikTok on a ByteDance algorithm## and application that could allow# continued CCP control or influence."

But it's not clear if there's# even a final deal.

Today,## Xi Jinping released a statement that said# -- quote -- "The Chinese government respects## the wishes of the company and would be happy# to see productive commercial negotiations."

SAMM SACKS, Yale Law School: The details are# really going to matter to understand whether## this addresses the national security concerns# that U.S.

policymakers have been so vocal about.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Samm Sacks is a senior fellow at## Yale Law School and New America# focused on Chinese technology.

SAMM SACKS: So just having the# data housed in the U.S.

by a U.S.## company or consortium of companies doesn't# exactly answer who has access to the data,## under what conditions does it flow out# of the U.S., same for the content.

There## are a lot of questions about who will be# overseeing the recommendation algorithm,## right?

A license in and of itself doesn't tell# us about how certain content will be promoted.

NICK SCHIFRIN: She says the Chinese# government's stance on TikTok has## become more flexible because Beijing sees# a TikTok deal as a step toward making a## larger deal with the U.S.

on computer# chips, trade or even about Taiwan.

SAMM SACKS: I don't think Beijing cares# about TikTok, but I think they realized## that they have a real opportunity here because# Trump does.

And they have bigger fish to fry.## They may be using this as an opening# to extract larger concessions.

NICK SCHIFRIN: President Trump also announced# today that he would meet Xi Jinping at the## Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit at# the end of October and travel to China early## next year, while Xi would reciprocate,# William, with his own trip to the us.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Nick, thank you.

We have also got our White House# correspondent, Liz L.. Nick, a question for you, though.

There# has been this bipartisan consensus that## there really is a national security# problem with TikTok.

Has there been any## evidence that the Chinese government# has manipulated TikTok in some way?

NICK SCHIFRIN: So, ByteDance is a Chinese# company and has to respond to any Chinese## government request for data from ByteDance.# And the Department of Justice alleged that the## company actually accessed the devices of American# journalists via their TikTok apps in the past.

As for the overall concern, William, as our# story suggests, there are a few buckets.

One## is the concern that China could steal# the data of Americans.

And the deal,## according to the people defending the deal,# tell me that that's designed to be mitigated## by the fact that the data of Americans# is kept inside the us, firewalled off.

The second concern is that the app could somehow# deliver malicious software.

And the critics of## the deal who I talked to today say that, yes,# that still could happen because this company,## this algorithm, will still be Chinese,# and that even if you had some kind of## review of the algorithm, it's simply too# long and too complicated to know that an## American company like Oracle can actually# find anything nefarious inside the code.

And as an aside, William, all the experts I# spoke to today told me that the legislation## requires a complete divestiture from# ByteDance, and this deal does not do that.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Liz, President# Trump's position on TikTok is,## I think the technical term# has evolved, you might say.

LIZ LANDERS: Yes.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: How and why has that happened?

LIZ LANDERS: Evolved, and it's been a 180, really.

Since he came back into office, he has totally# changed his position on this.

Back in August of## 2020, he signed an executive order that# would have effectively banned TikTok,## and there was a ton of pushback to this.# That was put at bay by some court orders.## Congress took up the mantle on this# issue in April of last year of 2024.

They passed bipartisan legislation that# would ban TikTok here in the U.S.

unless## there was this divestiture.

One# of the very first things that## President Trump did when he came into# office on Inauguration Day on January## 20 was to sign this executive order# to postpone the shutdown of TikTok.

And he has attributed his change,## his 180 in his position to how he saw TikTok# help him in the election.

He actually just## said yesterday that Charlie Kirk urged him# to get on the app.

Listen to what he said.

DONALD TRUMP: I like TikTok.

It helped get me# elected.

In fact, Charlie said, sir, you ought to## get on TikTok.

You would be great.

I said, really?# Tell me about TikTok.

And we -- as you know,## we did unbelievably well with youth, like at a# level that no Republican has ever even dreamt of.

LIZ LANDERS: And, William, just in the last# few months that he has been in office now,## he has delayed this TikTok ban over and over# again.

He signed the most recent executive## order delaying this just a few days ago.

That# is now extended and in effect until December 16.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Secondly, there's this## consortium that Nick was reporting# about that, if the deal goes forward,## a consortium of American businesses would# take this ownership of part of TikTok.

Who are they and how did they get put together?

LIZ LANDERS: So this group that could# potentially be the buyer to have the## majority American stake includes several people# that President Trump is both close friends with## and are donors to him and to the Republican# Party, in particular, Larry Ellison -- he's## one of the co-founders of Oracle -- and also# Marc Andreessen, who's a venture capitalist.

For example, Marc Andreessen donated $2.5 million# to President Trump's super PAC last year in 2024.## So both of these men have close# personal ties to President Trump,## and they would also stand to gain a lot# financially if this deal goes through.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: And then beyond# the national security questions,## there's also real political# implications if this deal goes forward.

LIZ LANDERS: Yes.

Well, there are more than 170#million Americans who use TikTok,## and that cuts across all kinds of ideologies# and demographics, including young people.

And## so the president really believes that this# helped him win the younger demographic.## I think that Republicans want to continue to# get young people involved in politics as well.

So he has now joined TikTok himself.

He has more# than 15 million followers on TikTok since he## joined.

So this would be a big deal if he was able# to push through this deal with Xi and with China.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Liz Landers, Nick# Schifrin, thank you both so much.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Thank you.