SAEDNEWS: Donald Trump hailed his latest call with China’s Xi Jinping as a breakthrough and even claimed TikTok approval — but Beijing’s statement was far less conclusive, leaving the app’s fate in the U.S. still uncertain. Experts say the conversation signals thawing ties, but the toughest negotiations are yet to come.
According to Saed News; When Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that he had just wrapped up a “very good call” with Chinese President Xi Jinping, he framed it as the beginning of a TikTok breakthrough. “Appreciate the TikTok approval,” he wrote, leaving millions of U.S. users of the wildly popular app wondering if the drama was finally over.
But the Chinese version of events told a more cautious story. Beijing’s summary of the call, published by state news agency Xinhua, described China’s position as clear: TikTok’s fate must be decided “on the basis of market rules” and in line with Chinese laws. No green light, no signatures — just a reminder that Beijing won’t be pressured into a deal.
This discrepancy underscores the tension between Trump’s public declarations and the slow, technical grind of diplomacy. Experts say it’s not unusual for Trump to tout agreements that are far from finalized.
“Trump often announces frameworks or deals that still have a lot of details to be worked out,” explained Rachel Ziemba, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security. “This seems to be another example of that.”
The Trump-Xi conversation was their first in three months. Just weeks earlier, analysts were warning that U.S.-China ties had sunk to Cold War levels. Xi had refused Trump’s earlier requests to talk, despite multiple summits in Europe. That Beijing finally picked up the phone is being read as a symbolic thaw.
“At least they have broken the ice after a long while,” said Wei Liang, a professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies. “It suggests they are ready to start talking about bigger issues.”
Still, the lack of concrete movement on TikTok was striking. With 170 million American users, the platform has become a flashpoint in U.S.-China tensions. Under a law passed last year and upheld by the Supreme Court, China’s ByteDance must divest its ownership of TikTok or face a U.S. ban. Trump has already extended the deadline four times.
“It will be a very complicated transaction, if it happens,” said Robert Rogowsky, an adjunct professor at Georgetown University. “Beijing is reluctant to give up the app, and the future ownership structure is still unclear.”
Experts stress that the real fight isn’t just about data security, but about TikTok’s algorithm — the secret sauce that keeps users scrolling.
“The value of TikTok is the algorithm,” Rogowsky explained. “It doesn’t just show you what you want to see — it influences what you think you want to see. Whoever controls that algorithm holds enormous power.”
That power, he added, becomes politically dangerous if it ends up in the hands of a government or groups aligned with one. China, unsurprisingly, is unlikely to let the algorithm slip away.
The TikTok standoff is just one piece of a much larger puzzle. Both leaders are expected to meet at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Gyeongju, South Korea, later this fall. That’s where more substantive talks could take place — on rare earth minerals, China’s purchase of Russian oil, and U.S. semiconductor restrictions.
“What is clear is that Trump himself is not in a space to impose new tariffs on China,” Ziemba said. “That reflects the U.S. government’s mixed interests. The Chinese control some very important choke points.”
Indeed, Beijing appears emboldened. Analysts note that Chinese authorities have instructed companies to avoid buying chips from U.S. giant Nvidia, suggesting confidence in China’s ability to design its own alternatives. Combined with its grip on rare earth metals, China is feeling “strong enough to confront the U.S.,” Rogowsky argued.
For now, the Trump-Xi call signals a fragile thaw rather than a breakthrough. The two leaders have re-opened a channel of communication, but the details — especially on TikTok — remain tangled in politics, business interests, and questions of technological control.
“Both sides are looking for a graceful exit,” said Liang. “But that exit is not going to come easily.”
Until then, TikTok’s 170 million American users remain caught in limbo, refreshing their feeds while the world’s two biggest powers spar over who controls the algorithm shaping what they see.
