US President Donald Trump has announced that the United States will start formal discussions with China early next week over a potential deal involving the popular short-video app TikTok, whose parent company ByteDance is based in Beijing. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said the talks could begin as soon as Monday or Tuesday, possibly involving President Xi Jinping or senior Chinese officials. “We pretty much have a deal,” Trump claimed, though he acknowledged that China’s approval would be necessary for any agreement to move forward.The proposed deal would reportedly involve spinning off TikTok’s U.S. operations into a new American-owned entity, a plan that had been in the works earlier this year but was paused after China objected to U.S. tariff hikes. Trump recently extended the deadline for ByteDance to divest TikTok’s US assets to September 17.While Trump expressed optimism, saying the deal would be “good for China and good for us,” he also admitted uncertainty: “I’m not confident, but I think so,” he said when asked whether China would approve the arrangement.The renewed negotiations come amid heightened tensions over data privacy, national security, and U.S.-China tech competition. TikTok, which has over 170 million American users, has faced bipartisan scrutiny in Washington, with lawmakers pushing for a ban unless it is separated from Chinese ownership.