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Added: The White House declined to comment; no immediate response from TikTok; details and context; paragraphs 2-10) by David Shepardson
The administration of President Donald Trump is on the verge of reaching a $400 million deal with TikTok to settle an ongoing dispute related to alleged children’s privacy violations, ABC News reported on Friday, citing sources close to the matter.
The White House declined to comment, referring questions to the Justice Department, which did not immediately respond. TikTok did not respond to a request for comments.
ABC reported that the funds from the agreement would be used to finance Trump’s “beautification” projects in Washington, ABC News sources familiar with the discussions said. Trump requested $10 billion from Congress to fund a wide range of projects in the District of Columbia region.
ABC reported that White House officials have been discussing for weeks the possibility of using this money to finance a 76-meter tall triumphal arch proposed by Trump near the Arlington National Cemetery. Typically, funds from settlements are used to assist victims. In 2024, the Justice Department sued TikTok and its parent company ByteDance for failing to protect children’s privacy on the social networking app.
The United States asserts that for years, millions of American children under the age of 13 have been using TikTok, and the site “has collected and stored children’s personal information.”
The government stated that TikTok had violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which requires services aimed at children to obtain parental consent before collecting personal information from users under 13 years old.
The complaint, joined by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), aims to stop “TikTok’s massive and unlawful invasions of children’s privacy.”
The Justice Department stated that TikTok knowingly allowed children to create standard TikTok accounts, then create and share short videos and messages with adults and others on the standard TikTok platform. TikTok collected personal information from these children without obtaining parental consent. In January, ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok, finalized an agreement to create a majority American joint venture to secure American data and prevent a US ban on the short video app used by over 200 million Americans.
