The art of the steal: Trump's TikTok deal is not what it seems

The art of the steal: Trump’s TikTok deal is not what it seems
If successful, the transaction will cement Silicon Valley's right-wing shift

By Sophia Tesfaye
Senior Writer
Published September 27, 2025 9:00AM (EDT)


(Salon) The battle over TikTok in the U.S. has lasted as long as the globally popular app has been available. Since 2019, TikTok has negotiated with the federal government to address concerns of Chinese manipulation and data theft. President Donald Trump was initially for a ban, then against it and then for it again. Through it all, TikTok remained one of the only major social platforms that Silicon Valley, with its growing right-wing tilt, hadn’t completely absorbed. That independence is now at risk after the president laid the groundwork for a complex deal for the app that gifted his billionaire allies an unprecedented degree of control over U.S. media.

“It’s owned by Americans, and very sophisticated Americans,” Trump said as he signed an executive order allowing a consortium of investors to helm an American version of the app. “This is going to be American operated all the way.”

More than a social media platform, TikTok has grown into one of the country’s largest consumer apps. For months, the Trump administration ignored a 2024 law passed by Congress and upheld by the Supreme Court banning the app unless the Chinese company ByteDance sold off its majority ownership. Despite its now less than 20% stake in the American spinoff, ByteDance reportedly may still retain rights for upwards of 50% of any profit. Contrary to Trump’s claim, the Abu Dhabi-based investment firm MGX is now one of several companies involved in the TikTok deal. Oracle — one of the world’s largest cloud computing firms, which already hosts all of TikTok’s U.S. data, is set to build a $20 billion data center in the United Arab Emirates and will be responsible for the app’s famous algorithm. As the New York Times reported, another potential TikTok investor, Silver Lake, has a stake in one of the partners involved in the Emirates data center project.

Other investors reportedly include Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan, as well as Michael Dell, CEO of Dell Technologies. While it’s not yet finalized, it’s certainly shaping up to be a sweetheart deal worth some $14 billion, according to the White House. Previous estimates by analysts, though, put the amount in the range of $30 billion to $35 billion. According to the Murdoch-owned Wall Street Journal, the Trump administration is expected to collect a multibillion-dollar fee from the transaction.

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But TikTok is also the closest thing we have to a digital town square that isn’t yet colonized by billionaires with political agendas. Its algorithm — still largely interest-driven rather than identity-driven — has enabled ordinary people to go viral with critical stories and counternarratives. It may sound bleak but, according to the Pew Research Center, 43% of adults aged 18-29 regularly get their news from TikTok. .................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2025/09/27/the-art-of-the-steal-trumps-tiktok-deal-is-not-what-it-seems/