How Trump's Covid Conspiracy Theory Led to TikTok's Sale
By Reuters | 18 Dec, 2025

ByteDance signs a deal to implement a forced sale of the popular video site's US assets to avoid a ban conceived by Trump based entirely on his spurious conspiracy theory about Covid's Chinese origin.

TikTok's Chinese owner, ByteDance, signed binding agreements with three major investors to sell just over 80% of the company's U.S. assets to American and global investors to avoid a U.S. government ban, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew told employees.

The signing is a significant step toward resolving years of uncertainty about the short video app's future in the United States since August 2020, when then President Donald Trump first tried unsuccessfully to ban it.

Here is a timeline of TikTok's saga in the U.S.

2017 - ByteDance acquires U.S. video app Flipgram and lip-syncing app Musical.ly.

2018 - ByteDance integrates Musical.ly into TikTok. 

March 2019 - TikTok surpasses 1 billion downloads globally on Apple's App Store and Google Play.

April 2020 - TikTok hits 2 billion downloads globally.

July 7, 2020 - Trump suggests a TikTok ban could be deployed to punish China for the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

August 6, 2020 - Trump issues executive order banning transactions with TikTok and ByteDance, starting in 45 days. 

August 13, 2020 - Two Republican senators send a letter to the Federal Trade Commission asking for an investigation of TikTok's data collection.

August 14, 2020 - Trump orders ByteDance to divest its interest in TikTok's U.S. operations within 90 days. September 14, 2020 - ByteDance picks Oracle over Microsoft as its partner in a bid to keep TikTok operating in the United States.

September 18, 2020 - Trump administration says it will ban TikTok from U.S. app stores from September 21.

November 2020 - ByteDance challenges Trump's order to divest TikTok, and is granted extensions.

March 2, 2022 - Eight states, including California and Massachusetts, launch a probe into whether TikTok causes physical or mental health harm to young people. 

December 20, 2022 - U.S. moves to ban TikTok on government devices. 

March 23, 2023 - TikTok CEO Chew testifies before Congress; over five hours of testimony, he repeatedly denies the app shares data or has connections with the Chinese Communist Party. 

May 17, 2023 - Montana becomes first U.S. state to ban TikTok. 

March 14, 2024 - U.S. House of Representatives passes a bill that would give ByteDance about six months to divest TikTok's U.S. assets, or face a ban. 

April 24, 2024 - President Joe Biden signs law giving ByteDance until January 19, 2025, to sell TikTok; failure would lead to its ban from U.S. app stores and from "internet hosting services" that support it.

May 7, 2024 - TikTok and ByteDance sue in U.S. federal court seeking to block Biden's law that would force TikTok's divestiture. 

August 2, 2024 - The U.S. Justice Department files a lawsuit against TikTok and ByteDance for failing to protect children's privacy on the social media app.

December 6, 2024 - A U.S. federal appeals court upholds the law requiring ByteDance to divest TikTok in the U.S. by January 2025 or face a ban.

January 18, 2025 - TikTok stops working for users in the United States, disappears from Apple and Google app stores before the law shutting it down on national security grounds took effect the next day.

January 19, 2025 - TikTok says it is restoring service after then President-elect Donald Trump said he would revive the app's access in the U.S. when he returns to power. Deadline extended to early April.

April 4, 2025 - President Trump extends deadline for the sale of ByteDance's U.S. assets of TikTok.

May 4, 2025 - Trump says he will extend the June 19 deadline for TikTok's sale.

June 19, 2025 - Trump extends June 19 sale deadline by 90 days to September 17, for the third time. 

June 29, 2025 - Trump says he has found a buyer for TikTok, which he describes as a group of "very wealthy people," in a Fox News interview. 

August 19, 2025 - The White House launches its official TikTok account. 

September 15, 2025 - U.S. and Chinese officials reach a framework agreement to switch TikTok to U.S.-controlled ownership.

September 16, 2025 - Trump says the U.S. and China have a deal that will keep TikTok operating and that the U.S. will announce a buyer. 

The U.S. extends deadline to sell Chinese ownership of TikTok to December 16.

December 18, 2025 - ByteDance told its employees ByteDance and TikTok signed binding agreements with three managing investors: Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX, to form a new TikTok U.S. joint venture named TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC. The deal is set to close on January 22.

(Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City; Zaheer Kachwala and Arpan Varghese in Bengaluru and Kane Wu in Hong Kong; Editing by Alan Barona and Stephen Coates)