The administration of President Donald Trump is close to finalizing a $400 million deal with TikTok to settle an ongoing dispute over alleged privacy violations involving children, ABC News reported on Friday, citing sources familiar with 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 comment.
ABC reported that funds from the agreement would be used to finance Trump’s “beautification” projects in Washington, ABC News sources close to the discussions said. Trump has 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 also fund a 76-meter triumphal arch proposed by Trump near the Arlington National Cemetery. Typically, funds from settlements are used to help 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 claims that for years, millions of American children under the age of 13 have been using TikTok and that the site “has collected and stored children’s personal information.”
The government has stated that TikTok violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which requires services aimed at children to obtain parental consent to collect personal information from users under 13.
The complaint, joined by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), aims to end “TikTok’s illegal and massive privacy infringements on children.”
The Justice Department stated that TikTok knowingly allowed children to create regular TikTok accounts, then create and share short videos and messages with adults and others on the regular TikTok platform. TikTok collected personal information from these children without obtaining their parents’ 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 avoid a ban in the United States on the short video app used by over 200 million Americans.
