September 19, 2025
So do we have a deal to sell TikTok to a US company? Or what? The fact is – it’s extremely unclear and anyone who tells you this TikTok deal is done is absolutely not paying attention to what’s actually going on. As always I’m going to show you the facts and what we actually know on the record.
Fact – today President Trump had a very lengthy phone call with Chinese President Xi.
Fact – we got what are called readouts from both President Trump and President Xi. Those are basically government issued statements about what each leader understood about what happened during the phone call. And I have both readouts. So we’re going to compare them. And before I do I want to make it very very clear. Readouts are absolutely meant to make the leader look good to his people. So the United States readout is going to make Trump look good to Americans and the Chinese readout is going to make Xi look good to the Chinese.
Fact – it is 1000% unclear if there is any deal on TikTok. Or if the Chinese have agreed to anything. And I don’t care that the trump administration went out there and said earlier this week about a framework deal. I just want to remind you of what I said when that announcement was made on Monday.
Ok – now that we have that clear – let’s look at each readout. Instead of coming from the white house – in the Trump administration we get readouts through the president’s social media page. I don’t make the rules. That’s just how it is. Here’s what trump said about his call this morning with President Xi.
He said they had a “very productive call” and that they “made progress on lots of things including trade, fentynal and bringing the Russia Ukraine war to an end and they talked about “the approval of a TikTok deal.” He goes on to say that the two are going to talk again at the APEC summit in South Korea at the end of October and that trump is going to visit China next year and that Xi would come to visit the United States. He ends by saying that he “appreciates the TikTok approval.”
So if you only saw that you’d think well! TikTok is saved! The Chinese have agreed to a sale of TikTok and this is all wrapped up with a bow. But you’d be wrong. Because you also need to look at the readout from the Chinese.
In China – those readouts can come from several sources – this one is coming from the Chinese state media and it says – the call between Xi and Trump was a “candid and in depth exchange of views on bilateral relations” and that it was “pragmatic, positive and constructive.” Then Xi said he warned Trump to watch himself over the tariffs – the readout says Xi told Trump “that the US side should avoid taking unilateral trade restrictions to prevent undermining the achievements made by both sides.”
Here’s where the TikTok stuff comes in – according to the Chinese readout there is no done deal and it does not appear that China has agreed to anything. It says “Xi said China’s position on the TikTok issue is clear, adding that the Chinese government respects the wishes of the company in question and is glad to see business negotiations in line with market rules and a solution that conforms to Chinese laws and regulations and takes into account the interests of both sides.” Then it goes on to talk about how trump called the Chinese military parade “phenomenal and beautiful” and that Trump said the relationship between the US and China was the most important bilateral relationship in the world.
Now – of course Xi’s readout is meant to make him look tough and strong in front of his people – just like Trump’s readout meant to make him look tough and strong. But the fact is it does not appear that China has agreed to anything about TikTok – at least not publicly.
Read the readout from Trump here.
Read the readout from Chinese state media here.
