• Congress has ordered TikTok shut down for American users. 
• TikTok deal to transfer platform’s assets to US owners.
• US TikTok to still make use of ByteDance’s algorithm: sources

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will seek an agreement on Friday to help keep the video app TikTok online in the US and ease tensions between two superpowers locked in a standoff over trade.

The agreement is at the top of the agenda alongside trade for the leaders’ first known call in three months, expected on Friday morning, US officials said. However, China has not confirmed plans for the call.

Trump and Xi’s effort to steady relations comes as the two governments have been discussing a potential in-person summit between Xi and Trump during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in South Korea from October 30 to November 1, Reuters has reported.

Beijing’s sign-off is one of the hurdles Trump needed to clear to keep TikTok open. Congress had ordered the app shut down for US users by January 2025 if its US assets weren’t sold by Chinese owner ByteDance.

Trump has declined to enforce the law while his administration looks for a new owner, but also because he worries a ban on the app would anger TikTok’s huge user base and disrupt political communications.

“I like TikTok; it helped get me elected,” Trump said during a press conference on Thursday. “TikTok has tremendous value. The US has that value in its hand because we’re the ones that have to approve it”.

Key questions about the deal remain. It’s not clear the precise ownership structure of the company, how much control China will retain or whether Congress will approve.

The deal would transfer TikTok’s US assets to US owners from ByteDance, Reuters reported. Sources familiar with the deal said US TikTok would still make use of ByteDance’s algorithm.

That arrangement worries lawmakers concerned that Beijing could spy on Americans or conduct influence operations through the app. China has said there is no evidence of a national security threat posed by the app.

Complicated relations

Trump has positioned his foreign policy approach as one of peace-seeking and deal-making. Relations remain icy between the world’s two biggest economies.

“We’re pretty close to a deal,” Trump said on Thursday, in an apparent reference to larger trade talks. “We may do an extension with China, but it’s an extension based on the same terms that we have right now, which are pretty good terms”.

Other key issues include competition between both sides on semiconductors and other advanced technologies. The US wants more Chinese purchases of US-harvested soybeans and Boeing airplanes.

The US is also demanding that China crack down on the export of fentanyl-related chemicals, a major cause of US overdose deaths. Beijing has accused Washington of distorting the issue.

Recent data point to slowing economies in both China and the US.

Since retaking office in January, Trump sharply hiked tariffs across the board and singled out China’s export-oriented economy with especially punitive rates. That prompted China to respond in kind. Tariff rates on both sides of the Pacific rose to triple-digit percentages in April.

A succession of limited agreements since May paused the tit-for-tat tariff war between the countries.

They also set aside issues that led to China choking off rare-earth magnets that Washington needs to make high-tech gadgets. Trump had blocked Beijing’s access to semiconductor design software, jet engines and some chemicals.

“China’s effective use of sticks (rare earths) and carrots (TikTok) has turned things heavily in their favour,” said Scott Kennedy, head of the Chinese Business and Economics program at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank.

Tariffs, a tax on US importers, have been a key plank of Trump’s economic policy. He’s raised them to the highest levels in nearly a century.

The Republican president has portrayed tariffs as an elixir that can recoup lost manufacturing jobs, cut chronic federal government deficits, correct perceived trade imbalances and bend foreign countries to Washington’s will.

Despite the tariffs, China remains the US’ third-largest trading partner and the source of its largest bilateral trade deficit in goods.

Trump has threatened but so far withheld punitive tariffs against Chinese exports related to the country’s purchases of Russian oil.

At the same time, regional worries are multiplying over Taiwan and the South China Sea, risky flashpoints that struggle to command as much attention in Washington as the Russia-Ukraine and Gaza wars.

“Heads-of-state diplomacy plays an irreplaceable role in providing strategic guidance for China-US relations,” said Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington.

In an early sign of goodwill prior to the call, China permitted the departure of Wells Fargo banker Chenyue Mao, who had been prevented from returning to the US for several months.

With President Donald Trump’s state visit with the Royal Family now concluding, royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams has come forward, offering his honest thoughts about the Sussexes, and the chances that they may release anything new during POTUS’ time in the UK.

He shared these thoughts with the Daily Mail and started by saying, “I’d be surprised if the Sussexes do anything this week that might annoy.”

Because “the British put on such a ceremonial show. I mean I’ve been watching this. It is amazing and it’s intentionally amazing and intentionally designed to impress President Trump.”

So even “if the Sussexes made a move that distracted us, as they have from time to time when there been important royal events, it would be not only be outrageous, but it would draw Trump’s eye.”

In his chat, the commentator also highlighted how even Meghan’s been making it a point to avoid political conversations, as was the case in her interview for Bloomberg Originals.

Regarding that interview Mr Fitzwilliams said, “Meghan, she actually showed sense in not answering political questions. The reason President Trump wants to leave Harry alone, of course, is that he doesn’t want any glitches with King Charles because can you just imagine what would happen if they tried to throw him out.”

“He would contest it in court and this would be a member of the British Royal Family involved in court case in America and it would harm Trump’s links with the royals because it’s the last thing King Charles would want.”

He even brought Prince William into the conversation and added, “I shouldn’t think William would want that either. I mean they might be landed with him back there.”

The commentator also didn’t forget to slip in a jibe against Prince Harry either, because he referenced his interview with The Guardian in Ukraine too.

Reacting the Duke’s comments about the royals he said, “suddenly you decide that you’re going to give an interview saying, ‘I regret nothing’ to a Republican newspaper [the Guardian leans left and is anti-monarchy]. I mean, it’s utterly weird.”

Still, the chances that the world may see anything new from the Sussexes because “This is a decision that would be taken because Harry knows serious national issues are being discussed.”

MrBeast, a well-known YouTuber, is set to appear in the upcoming The Angry Birds Movie 3.

Along with him, Salish Matter is also coming on board beside Anthony Padilla and Ian Hecox, Jason Sudeikis (Red), Josh Gad (Chuck), Rachel Bloom (Silver), Danny McBride (Bomb), Emma Myers, Keke Palmer, Tim Robinson, and Lily James.

Moreover, Marcello Hernandez, Walker Scobell, Sam Richardson, Anna Cathcart, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Nikki Glaser, James Austin Johnson and Psalm West also starred.

John Cohen, Dan Chuba, and Carla Conror serve as the producers, while Thurop Van Orman is working on the screenplay as well as executive producer along with Toru Nakahara.

In an earlier statement, one of the producers gushed about Paramount Pictures, which is behind the upcoming film.

“We’re very excited to be partnering with Paramount Pictures and extremely proud of our incredible cast. Not only do we have Jason, Josh, Rachel and Danny returning to voice their fantastic characters.”

“But they’re surrounded by an all-star ensemble of comedic talent. These are some of the funniest people out there today, and we’re so thrilled to have them all on board,” John added.

As the shooting on the movie is ongoing, details about its plot have been kept under wraps.

The Angry Birds Movie 3, meanwhile, will bow out in cinemas on Jan 29, 2027.