GOP China hawks are expected to reluctantly support President Trump’s efforts to save TikTok from going dark in the US – despite lingering concerns about US security, On The Money has learned.
Key Republicans were briefed earlier this week about the president’s new US-controlled company that will house the wildly popular and controversial short-video app – including how it operates the all-important recommendation algorithm.
At the closed-door briefing, administration officials told US lawmakers and staffers how a new ownership structure will remove the algorithm’s Chinese spyware and make the new TikTok safe for US users – a necessary measure to comport with a law that says the app must be banned if there’s any trace of Chinese control.
As first reported by The Post, the new TikTok algorithm will be a version of the Chinese algorithm owned by Beijing-based ByteDance that will be reformatted by Oracle, the software giant co-founded by billionaire Trump backer Larry Ellison.
Nevertheless, Congressional staffers remain skeptical whether the new algorithm can be rewritten to be completely protected from Chinese espionage given some of the wonky details of the deal disclosed during the briefing, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter. The algo will still be China’s and will be leased to the new US company.
“From a national security standpoint this isn’t so great,” said a person with direct knowledge of the briefing. “The algo will be leased by the Chinese to the US TikTok for 10 years and Oracle won’t have complete say in terms of how to change it.”
A press official for Oracle had no immediate comment as did a Trump spokesman.
In addition to concerns over the algorithm, some lawmakers fear the Chinese will be the biggest winner from the deal, gleaning around 50% of the new company’s profits given the 20% ownership stake ByteDance will keep in the new company, and the cost of the licensing agreement for the algorithm from ByteDance.
In fact, the cost of the algorithm, which is being paid from TikTok revenues, has reduced the valuation of the new company from the expected $40 billion to around $16 billion.
Oracle plans to brief Congress in the coming weeks and hearings may be held in the months ahead. US lawmakers are reluctant to buck President Trump, who is said to consider the deal key to his broader negotiations with China over trade.
“I don’t think this is a hill anyone in the Republican Party is going to die on given how much the president wants this deal,” said a person close to the GOP China hawk wing.
Sources note that the Congressional ban law’s interpretation of “control” – with respect to both ownership and the algorithm – rests largely with the president. Trump and Vice President JD Vance, who played a key role in hammering out the new TikTok structure, believe the US security safeguards are sufficient to comport with the law.
Trump was a TikTok hater during his first term, and attempted to ban the app in the US believing it was used by the CCP for spycraft. But he’s since had a change of heart, attributing his victory in the 2024 election partly to his campaign’s flooding TikTok with pro-MAGA content.
In April 2024, former President Biden signed bi-partisan legislation banning TikTok from US app stores if it didn’t relinquish Chinese control. Trump has issued executive orders preventing the ban from taking place until a new US TikTok deal could be cobbled together. That deal was finalized Thursday.
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