Trump wavers on TikTok deal as companies push conflicting messages

President Donald Trump said Monday that he would not support a TikTok deal unless Walmart and Oracle own a controlling stake in the popular video-sharing app — appearing to reject the terms of an agreement he said over the weekend had his approval.

Trump's statements suggest a deal that on Saturday seemed to only need final security approvals could still fall apart as parties argue over what the delicately brokered terms really mean. The agreement must satisfy both Washington and Beijing and the companies are spinning conflicting messages about the pact that appear designed to win over their home governments.

Oracle and ByteDance, TikTok's Chinese parent company, put out contradictory statements Monday about whether the proposed ownership structure for the new TikTok Global — which includes a combination of U.S. and Chinese investors — means ByteDance will have an ownership stake.

Trump, for his part, said the deal means Walmart and Oracle are purchasing TikTok outright — in line with his original demand that a U.S. company buy TikTok to satisfy concerns that U.S. user data could be shared with the Chinese government.

"They are going to buy it. They're going to have total control over it. They're going to own the controlling interest," he told reporters. "And if we find that they don't have total control, then we're not going to approve the deal."

But Oracle and Walmart are not buying TikTok and they will not own a controlling interest, according to the deal as negotiated. The companies said over the weekend that they will become minority investors in TikTok Global, owning a combined 20 percent of the new entity. Oracle will own 12.5 percent to Walmart's 7.5 percent.

Trump also told reporters that ByteDance would have no role in the company, though people familiar with the deal's terms say its investors are still involved. And ByteDance has said it would retain ownership of TikTok's prized algorithms and other proprietary technology.

"They will have nothing to do with it, and if they do, we just won't make the deal," Trump said.

But the existing investors in ByteDance, which include American, Chinese and international owners, will hold shares of TikTok Global — including ByteDance's founder, Zhang Yiming. Once Oracle and Walmart enter the deal, American investors will own a majority stake and control the board of directors, according to a person familiar with the terms. The person spoke anonymously because discussions are ongoing.

Trump's pronouncements come as the companies themselves are putting out opposing claims about the deal.

Oracle said Monday that ByteDance will have no ownership of the new TikTok Global. Meanwhile, ByteDance put out a statement in Chinese saying the deal structure means it will retain 80 percent ownership — though, according to a person familiar with the deal, only a portion of that will belong to Chinese investors.

Those statements fall roughly in line with divergent priorities expressed by Washington and China.

With just weeks until the election, Trump has framed his stance on TikTok as part of a broader crackdown on Chinese technology companies that the government asserts pose a national security threat.

China, meanwhile, doesn’t want to be seen as letting the U.S. snatch one of its technology crown jewels without putting up a fight. The government of Xi Jinping has accused the Trump administration of targeting TikTok for political and economic reasons under the guise of national security.

"This isn't something that can be solved with the political wave of a magic wand," Paul Triolo, a longtime government analyst who now heads the Eurasia Group's geo-technology practice, said last week. "The details are going to have to make sense to both sides."

That dynamic has already caused confusion. Trump claimed on the campaign stump Saturday that the deal would create a $5 billion education fund — an announcement that reportedly surprised ByteDance and that the company later refuted. Oracle and Walmart swooped in within hours to amend the record: the newly formed TikTok Global would generate $5 billion in new tax revenue and the companies would launch an online education initiative.

"It’s entirely possible that this messaging gets the whole thing killed," said the person familiar with the deal.

ByteDance also said Monday it will retain control over its prized algorithms and other technology that power the TikTok app — a concern Beijing took so seriously that it amended export controls to halt a full-blown sale of TikTok and its technology without the government's expressed permission. A request for further comment from ByteDance was not immediately returned.

Oracle will, however, be able to review TikTok code for any security concerns and will host all U.S. data in its cloud computing facilities. The companies have said that, plus additional government oversight and third-party security audits, should settle concerns about U.S. data being inappropriately funneled to China.

Caitlin Oprysko contributed to this report.