After nine months of waiting, a TikTok sale may be just around the corner.

President Donald Trump hinted in a Truth Social post on Sept. 15 that the United States and China have reached a deal to divest the popular social media platform to a U.S. buyer. The announcement came two days before the next ban deadline for the social media platform, Sept. 17.

"A deal was also reached on a 'certain' company that young people in our Country very much wanted to save. They will be very happy!" Trump wrote in the social media post.

Trump said he will be speaking to Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sept. 19, adding that their relationship "remains a very strong one."

At a trade meeting between U.S. and China officials in Madrid on Sept. 15, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the framework deal is to switch the app to U.S.-based ownership, according to Reuters reporting.

"We believe we have an agreement. It's just subject to the leaders' approval," Greer said, per Reuters.

As a potential deal nears, here's a look at how we got here.

April 2024: Biden signs Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act

After years of discourse about TikTok's prevalence in the United States, then-President Joe Biden signed the Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act in April 2024.

For years, some government officials had expressed concern that TikTok is a national security threat, believing that ByteDance, which is based in Beijing, is sharing U.S. user data with China. TikTok has repeatedly denied these claims.

Biden's federal legislation gave ByteDance until Jan. 19, 2025, to divest TikTok or the platform would become illegal for distribution in the United States. Under the legislation, app stores and internet service providers were to make TikTok inaccessible in the United States, if the platform had not been sold.

January 2025: Bidders line up

Project Liberty, an initiative aimed at decentralizing the internet that was created by billionaire and former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, announced a bid for TikTok on Jan. 11.

Project Liberty President Tomicah Tillemann said in a statement the organization would not disclose the bid amount. However, the group previously said it had secured $20 billion in verbal commitments from a group of investors ready to bid for TikTok.

Kevin O'Leary, known as Mr. Wonderful on the reality television series "Shark Tank," and Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit, joined McCourt in this effort.

In a cheeky X post on Jan. 13, YouTuber James "Jimmy" Donaldson, commonly known as MrBeast, expressed interest in throwing his hat into the ring for TikTok. The post got a lot of traffic, leading to a subsequential X post in which Donaldson told fans he'd been in contact with "so many billionaires" to see if he could actually help move a deal along.

In late January, a consortium of investors, led by Employer.com founder and CEO Jesse Tinsley, announced it had made a formal, all-cash offer to purchase TikTok's U.S. assets. Donaldson was a part of this consortium, according to a news release from law firm Paul Hastings, which provided counsel to the group of investors.

Jan. 18, 2025: TikTok goes dark

On the evening of Jan. 18, TikTok went dark for U.S. users, as ByteDance did not divest the platform by the set deadline. The platform was unavailable for use via the mobile app or website for less than 24 hours.

Jan. 19, 2025: TikTok is revived

The day before his presidential inauguration, Trump told tech companies that he would sign an executive order the day of his inauguration that would temporarily halt the ban. He promised companies that support TikTok's service throughout the United States would not face repercussions for doing so.

TikTok was restored in the United States on Jan. 19. However, users without the app were not able to download it, as it had not yet returned to app stores.

Jan. 20, 2025: Trump signs first executive order to resurrect platform

Two days after TikTok went dark for U.S. users, Trump signed an executive order to halt enforcement of the ban for 75 days (ending on April 5).

Feb. 13, 2025: TikTok reappears on app stores

TikTok was restored to the Apple App Store and Google Play Store on Feb. 13, weeks after Trump told the media companies that they could bring back the platform without any consequences.

April 2, 2025: Amazon submits bid for TikTok

According to Reuters and the New York Times, Amazon submitted a bid for the social media platform on April 2, just three days before the first executive order deadline was set to expire.

April 4, 2025: Trump signs second executive order to push back ban deadline

On April 4, one day before his first executive order protecting TikTok was set to expire, Trump signed another executive order, pushing back the deadline to June 19.

June 19, 2025: Trump signs third executive order delaying ban

Trump signed an executive order on June 19, pushing back the ban on TikTok a third time. The new deadline was set for Sept. 17.

July 24, 2025: TikTok will go dark if deal isn't struck, Lutnick says

During a CNBC interview on July 24, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said if China wouldn't approve a U.S.-drafted deal to sell the American assets of TikTok, the app would go dark on or after the Sept. 17 deadline.

Sept. 15: Trump hints at a deal

In a Truth Social post made on Sept. 15, Trump hinted that a deal with China had been reached to keep TikTok active in the United States.

Contributing: Kinsey Crowley, USA TODAY; Reuters

Greta Cross is a national trending reporter at USA TODAY. Story idea? Email her at gcross@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How did TikTok get here? A look at the US' fight over social media app

Reporting by Greta Cross and Melina Khan, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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