Entertainment
Trump and Xi seek TikTok win to break US-China gridlock
- 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 Meghan Markle’s new project Close Personal Friends, set to start filming in Pasadena, California alongside stars like Lily Collins, Brie Larson and Jack Quaid, an insider has come forward.
According to this source, Meghan’s attempt at re-entering the entertainment industry comes with a bid to “reclaim Hollywood on her own terms.”
According to a well placed Hollywood source, “Meghan’s comeback isn’t just about acting – it’s about freedom. She’s been itching to return to the industry, and this project feels like her stepping out from Harry’s shadow.”
Furthermore, “People close to her say she’s desperate to feel like herself again,” the source told RadarOnline.
According to their findings, there is one issue however, and that relates to Prince Harry because with this project now in the pipeline, “the dynamic between them has changed. Harry’s supportive in public, but privately, he’s struggling with how separate their worlds have become. Meghan’s re-entry into Hollywood feels like a statement – that she’s moving on, with or without him.”
A production crew member has since come forward as well and claims that while “she has a small part in the movie, but you’d never know it from the way people respond to her as she’s being treated like the lead actress. Meghan came in with this calm confidence. She introduced herself to everyone, no entourage, no fuss. She seemed genuinely happy.”
A separate source close to the couple has also said, “Harry’s energy is going into his charity and Invictus projects, but Meghan’s got her sights firmly set on Hollywood again. She’s been meeting with producers, fashion insiders, and streaming executives. This film isn’t a side project – it’s her big comeback.”
It seems the wider family network, including seniors like Queen Camilla and Kate Middleton actively played a part in making sure Andrew Mountbatten Windsor’s titles were removed.
Everything has been revealed by a well placed insider that is close to
According to their findings the two main players that had a hand in pushing this across the finish line was Queen Camilla and Kate Middleton.
The news has also been revealed by none other than a well placed palace source and they claim, “I would think the Queen had a hand in that.
Because to make anything move like this they added, “there would have been a push from Camilla and Catherine, and there was pressure from William, who would not want to inherit the headache.”
The insider even chimed in themselves and offered their own reaction to the news a hole when adding, “it was a family decision. It was quite strong, and I was quite proud when I heard it.”
In regards to the statement that announced the stripping of Andrew Mountbatten Windsor’s title, it came via the King as an official communication and reads, “His Majesty has today initiated a formal process to remove the Style, Titles and Honours of Prince Andrew.”
“Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. His lease on Royal Lodge has, to date, provided him with legal protection to continue in residence. Formal notice has now been served to surrender the lease and he will move to alternative private accommodation.”
“These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him. Their Majesties wish to make clear that their thoughts and utmost sympathies have been, and will remain with, the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse.”
Andrew does not want to come to terms with the new normal of his life.
The banished Prince, who has been sent into exile following his trueness with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, still wants to be called HRH behind closed doors.
Rob Shuter’s #ShuterScoop reports that actually “nothing has changed inside Royal Lodge.”
A household insider said: “The butler still says Your Royal Highness, and the staff still bow. Andrew’s made it clear – palace rules don’t apply inside his walls. He insists it’s his birthright – not something the King can erase.”
This comes as Andrew’s former maid, Charlotte Briggs, told the Sun: “As soon as I got the job, I was told about the teddies, and it was drilled into me how he wanted them. I even had a day’s training. Everything had to be just right. It was so peculiar.”
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