President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday greenlighting a $14 billion overhaul of TikTok's U.S. arm, handing majority control to American investors and averting a January shutdown, after direct approval from China's Xi Jinping during last week's summit.

The pact, hashed out in high-stakes talks, spins off TikTok's domestic operations into a new joint venture where parent ByteDance retains under 20% stake, as confirmed by a senior White House aide.

Vice President JD Vance, who pegged the valuation at $14 billion, stressed the balance: "We wanted to keep TikTok operating, but... make sure we protected Americans' data privacy as required by law," addressing long-standing fears of Beijing's sway over the app's algorithm and user info—though U.S. officials have yet to unearth proof of meddling.

Trump, fresh off crediting TikTok's 170 million American users for his re-election boost, revealed Xi's nod: "I spoke with President Xi. We had a good talk... and he said go ahead with it." The lineup of backers—media titan Rupert Murdoch, Oracle's Larry Ellison, and unnamed "world-class investors"—draws fresh eyes on potential favoritism, given their ties to the president, while ByteDance insists it never shares data with Chinese authorities.

This marks Trump's second swing at TikTok, after four delays on a first-term ban, now framed as a national security win via the White House's own TikTok launch last month. With 43% of under-30s turning to the platform for news—outpacing rivals—the order sidesteps outright prohibition but leaves mechanics murky, pending full disclosure.

As the app's 170 million users exhale, watchdogs flag enduring risks in the hybrid setup, testing whether the deal truly firewalls data or just rebrands influence under stars-and-stripes.