The administration of Donald Trump is expected to receive about $10 billion in fees from investors involved in the recently completed deal to take control of TikTok’s U.S. business, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.
The short-video platform’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, finalized an agreement in January to create a majority American-owned joint venture aimed at securing U.S. user data and avoiding a potential ban on the app.
The new entity, called TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, will oversee U.S. user data, applications and algorithms while implementing enhanced privacy and cybersecurity measures.
According to the report, investors including Oracle, Silver Lake and Abu Dhabi’s MGX agreed to pay around $2.5 billion to the U.S. Treasury Department when the deal closed, with additional payments expected until the total reaches roughly $10 billion.
Officials reportedly justified the payment by citing Trump’s role in facilitating negotiations with China and helping secure a deal that addressed lawmakers’ concerns about national security.
TikTok and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The agreement follows years of political scrutiny over TikTok’s ownership and concerns that U.S. user data could be accessed by Chinese authorities.
Earlier this month, Trump and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi were sued by retail investors in rival social media platforms seeking to overturn the president’s approval of the restructuring deal involving ByteDance.
