Presidential Bickering Imperils TikTok Deal
The website for the TikTok app is displayed on a smartphone in Beijing on Sept. 2.
Photographer: Yan Cong/BloombergWhile the terms of the TikTok deal are largely set, the agreement is at risk of being derailed by arguing between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping about who ceded the most ground.
Lagging in opinion polls ahead of the Nov. 3 presidential election, Trump is pushing the narrative that he forced China to surrender the American operations of the popular video-sharing app. He’s now threatening to veto the deal after TikTok owner ByteDance clarified it would remain in control of a new U.S.-based entity in the tie-up with Oracle and Walmart.