Chinese Tech Giant Becomes US-owned, Trump Administration Receives $10 Billion Fee
Jakarta - The Trump administration has received a substantial fee from the divestment of ByteDance’s Chinese operations regarding TikTok in the United States. The Trump administration obtained a “broker fee” from American investors organised within a new entity to control TikTok’s operational activities in the US.
The fee for the Trump administration is reported to be approximately $10 billion, equivalent to Rp170 trillion, according to a Wall Street Journal report based on information from several sources familiar with the matter.
In January 2026, TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance completed an agreement to establish a joint venture with the majority stake held by American interests. This arrangement was designed to “secure” US data.
Since the Joe Biden administration, the US has enforced regulations threatening to block TikTok from the US if ByteDance did not hand over its operational control to an entity of American investors. The US government argued that Chinese ownership would endanger national security, given that TikTok has more than 200 million users in the US.
The new entity, named TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, will secure user data, applications, and algorithms through cybersecurity and privacy measures.
Vice President JD Vance stated in September 2025 that the new American joint venture company would be valued at $14 billion, equivalent to Rp238 trillion.
The fee payment to the Trump administration is part of the agreement after the new American entity gained control of TikTok’s operations in the US from ByteDance, according to WSJ. This payment was made in addition to investments made to establish the new entity that will operate the application in the US.
Investors comprising companies “close” to Trump, such as Oracle, Silver Lake, MGX from Abu Dubai, and several other investors, paid approximately $2.5 billion to the Treasury Department when the deal was concluded between ByteDance and the American entity.
The total fee paid to the US government in instalments reaches $10 billion, according to the WSJ report. TikTok and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Reuters.
Officials from the Trump administration stated that the “fee” is legitimate, given Trump’s significant efforts in saving TikTok’s operational activities in the US and guiding negotiations with China to the end, according to the WSJ report.