Trump Trade: TikTok’s algorithm, data to be controlled ‘by America’

Catch up on the top industries and stocks that were impacted, or were predicted to be impacted, by the comments, actions and policies of President Donald Trump with this daily recap compiled by The Fly:

TIKTOK DEAL: White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Saturday provided further details of a deal reached between the U.S. and China over control of TikTok, sharing that six Americans will sit on the seven-seat board that will control the company and that the U.S. would control the app’s algorithm. “This deal does put America first,” Leavitt told Fox News’ “Saturday in America.” “And let me just be very clear. This deal means that TikTok will be majority-owned by Americans in the United States. There will be seven seats on the board that controls the app in the United States, and six of those seats will be Americans.” She added that the data and privacy aspects of the platform handled by Oracle (ORCL), and that the U.S. would maintain control of the app’s algorithm, which curates what users see on the app. President Trump and China’s Xi Jinping agreed to a preliminary framework for the deal on Friday, according to reports. Publicly traded companies in the social media space include Meta Platforms (META), Pinterest (PINS), Reddit (RDDT) and Snap (SNAP).

Lachlan Murdoch is unlikely to participate in the TikTok US deal individually, but Fox Corporation (FOXA), where Murdoch is executive chair and CEO, could play a role, CNBC’s Erin Doherty reports. President Donald Trump previously said that Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan may be involved in the proposal to save TikTok in the U.S. President Trump and China’s Xi Jinping agreed to a preliminary framework for the deal on Friday, according to reports.

Earlier, President Donald Trump told Fox News’ “The Sunday Briefing” that Lachlan and Rupert Murdoch may be involved in the ownership group for TikTok US. “A man named Lachlan is involved,” Trump said. Trump also said that Oracle executive chairman Larry Ellison and Dell Technologies (DELL) CEO Michael Dell are also likely to be involved in the TikTok deal. 

The White House is anticipated to collect a multibillion-dollar fee from investors as par of the complicated deal to assume control of TikTok’s U.S. activities, the Wall Street Journal’s Miriam Gottfried, Amrith Ramkumar, and Alex Leary report. Investors in the TikTok U.S. arrangement would pay the Trump administration the fee in exchange for negotiating the deal with China, the authors say, citing people familiar with the matter. President Trump and China’s Xi Jinping agreed to a preliminary framework for the deal on Friday, the authors note.

APPROVED AI TOOLS: U.S. government agencies will be permitted to use Meta Platforms’ AI system, Llama, according to a senior administration official, Reuters’ Courtney Rozen reports. As part of the Trump administration’s effort to incorporate commercial AI tools into federal operations, the General Services Administration, the government’s procurement arm, will add Llama to its roster of approved AI technologies, GSA procurement lead Josh Gruenbaum said in an interview ahead of the announcement. GSA has also signed off in recent months on AI tools from Meta’s competitors, including Amazon Web Services (AMZN), Microsoft (MSFT), Google (GOOGL), Anthropic, and Open AI.

AUTISM: The Trump Administration is planning to link the active ingredient in Tylenol to autism, with the intention to warn pregnant women against the use of the medication unless they have a fever, John Tozzi of Bloomberg reports. A Kenvue (KVUE) representative did not immediately have a comment, but the company has previously said there is no causal link between taking acetaminophen during pregnancy and autism.

H-1B VISAS: President Trump is expected to sign a proclamation as soon as today that would require a $100,000 fee for H-1B visa applications, Josh Wingrove of Bloomberg reports, citing a White House official familiar with the matter. The proclamation would restrict entry into the U.S. under the H-1B program unless accompanied by the payment, the official told Bloomberg. Names in outsourcing space include Cognizant (CTSH), Wipro (WIT) and Infosys (INFY).

Following the announcement on Friday that the Trump administration is planning to add a new $100,000 annual fee for H-1B visa applications beginning Sunday, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and others warned H-1B holders to not leave the U.S. and urged employees overseas on visa to return as soon as possible, Chip Cutter, Amrith Ramkumar, and Ray Smith of The Wall Street Journal report, citing notes sent to staff and people familiar with their contents. Many companies now worry they could be liable for fee payments due to how many of their employees use this type of visa.

PRICE CUT PROPOSALS: In an interview with Neue Zuercher Zeitung, Novartis (NVS) CEO Vas Narasimhan said the company is looking into ways to propose price cuts to U.S. President Donald Trump, Myriam Balezou of Bloomberg reports. “We’re working with the government to find constructive solutions so Americans pay less for their medicines,” Narasimhan said, according to Bloomberg.

MERGER: President Trump offered support for Union Pacific’s (UNP) proposed $72B acquisition of rival Norfolk Southern (NSC), which is seeking regulatory approval, Bloomberg’s Josh Wingrove and Jennifer Dlouhy report.

MANUFACTURING BOOST: The Trump administration is considering a plan to spur domestic factory construction using a $550B investment fund from Japan, The Wall Street Journal’s Brian Schwartz and Gavin Bade report. The plan would give priority to sectors like semiconductors and critical minerals, offering preferential treatment and access to federal resources. It comes as the president has secured a government stake in Intel (INTC), negotiated a “golden share” in U.S. Steel (X), and persuaded chip companies to give the U.S. a cut of certain sales to China.

PURCHASE: President Trump said on social media, “I am pleased to host President Recep Tayyip Erdoan, of Turkey, at the White House on September 25th. We are working on many Trade and Military Deals with the President, including the large scale purchase of Boeing (BA) aircraft, a major F-16 Deal, and a continuation of the F-35 talks, which we expect to conclude positively. President Erdoan and I have always had a very good relationship. I look forward to seeing him on the 25th.”

LAWSUIT: Florida District Judge Steven Merryday judge in Florida tossed out President Donald Trump’s $15B defamation lawsuit against the New York Times (NYT), saying the suit can be refiled with “short, plain, direct” claims. The current suit “unmistakably and inexcusably” violated the court’s rules by featuring “repetitive,” “superfluous” and “florid” allegations, the judge wrote.