Donald Trump announced his biggest business move yet in an effort to rescue the Chinese-backed social media app TikTok. This time, the deal appears to benefit several of his billionaire associates, as the social media giant agreed to sell its U.S. unit to a major joint venture. Notably, the deal includes some of the President’s closest allies and family friends. Axios has reviewed the internal memo related to this deal.
Under the deal, mega tech firm Oracle, a private equity firm named Silver Lake and Abu Dhabi-based company MGX will own 45 percent of TikTok’s U.S. unit. The three companies will operate under a newly formed entity called TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC. The 20 percent ownership of TikTok’s share will be held by ByteDance, while the remaining nearly one-third stake will continue to be held by existing investors on the Chinese end.
A key Trump connection lies with Oracle’s Chief Technology Officer, Larry Ellison, a close ally of the 79-year-old. The company will be acting as the most trusted security partner. They will be responsible for U.S. data protection and regular compliance auditing.
Trump’s Hegelian Dialectic style in his administration with every solution & problem he creates that already had a solution. So glad, I was never a TikTok fanatic or a fanatic of any of these social media sites. They will be fighting everything that beats their arses in the end
— GoodpressShannon (@GoodPressShanno) December 19, 2025
Outlining the strictest screening, the memo stated, “A trusted security partner will be responsible for auditing and validating compliance with the agreed-upon National Security Terms, and Oracle will be the trusted security partner upon completion of the transaction.”
Meanwhile, Silver Lake’s Managing Partner Egon Durban has a relationship with Jared Kushner. Additionally, MGX has been a company that has supported Trump’s cryptocurrency empire. As a result, the move has been widely viewed as part of Donald Trump’s broader effort to protect TikTok amid mounting political and regulatory pressure. He had already issued executive orders to either ban the app or to let the Chinese investors let American companies buy the American unit of the app. In fact, he even tried to push TikTok’s forced sale amid major national security concerns.
In September, Vice President JD Vance had commented on the then-imminent deal in the works to save TikTok from being completely banned. He spoke to Oval Office reporters, he said the government’s goal had always been to keep the app available while ensuring American user data remained protected. In his words, “This deal really does mean Americans can use TikTok but actually use it with more confidence than they had in the past because their data is secure and it won’t be used as a propaganda weapon as it has in the past.”
The first call for banning TikTok in America was issued by Congress last spring, with overwhelming bipartisan support. The app-makers were granted a limited 270-day window for it to completely cut off ties with its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, or face a ban.
It’s just a hunch. Trump can’t have any bumps in the AI story, the economy looks weak as is, and some big blip in AI will just compound issues. Oracle / OAI are ground zero if there is going to be a blip. TikTok deal being landed on favorable terms to Oracle could sure up their…
— Midnight Capital LLC (@Midnight_Captl) December 19, 2025
Interestingly, it was Trump who delayed the ban multiple times since the day it was initiated. He planned to give TikTok some reprieve while the White House worked on a plan for its complete sale. And now, with the details of the deal finally coming into full view, there is no doubt that the U.S. President has planned out the outline of it, and how much influence he has over his billionaire friends in the industry.
