TikTok USA Is Here to Stay

Jessica Mendoza (0:00)

Hey, this is Jessica Mendoza, host of The Journal Podcast, our show about money, business, and power. If you're looking for more deeply reported stories like we share every day, consider becoming a subscriber to The Wall Street Journal. Visit subscribe.wsj.com/thejournal, all lowercase, to subscribe now.

Luke Vargas (0:23)

Natural gas prices soar as the US braces for an Arctic blast, plus TikTok USA is here to stay.

Stu Woo (0:31)

If you're a user of TikTok, you're not going to see a difference. It's going to be interoperable with the rest of the world, but it won't be banned.

Luke Vargas (0:38)

And we'll go behind the no-buy January trend that's sweeping social media. It's Friday, January 23rd. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal, and here is the AM Edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today. A winter storm bearing heavy snow, strong winds, and bitter cold is descending upon the Central US from the Dakotas to the Gulf, with its sights set on the East Coast in the coming days. AccuWeather chief meteorologist Jonathan Porter warned drivers to take caution as ice accumulates on roads and said the storm was likely to affect a broad swath of the country from Texas to the Carolinas.

Jonathan Porter (1:19)

There are many communities that are not typically used to dealing with this magnitude of snow and ice that are going to be having to contend with that. Plus, we're going to be dealing with a freeze up, an extreme cold wave to follow the storm, which is going to amplify impacts.

Luke Vargas (1:35)

Utilities are bracing for the worst, wary of a repeat of a deadly 2021 winter storm in Texas that left millions without power for days and energy producers in some of America's largest oil and gas fields could see disruptions too, with traders anticipating that a large share of US production could become blocked in frozen wells precisely when heating demand is at its peak. Energy reporter Julia Petroni said that comes as natural gas prices are already high.

Julia Petroni (2:03)

US natural gas prices have jumped this week to their highest level since 2022 Natural gas is the dominant heating fuel across the US. It fuels about 47 percent of heating demand and it also supplies a large share of electricity generation. In fact, the energy department told grid operators to be ready to take extraordinary steps, including tapping back a power generation if needed.

Luke Vargas (2:29)

The acting president of Venezuela, Delci Rodriguez, has unveiled a new bill aimed at loosening the state's iron grip on its oil industry, a move aimed at repairing relations with Washington and attracting investment from US energy companies. President Trump has pressed American producers to quickly pour $100 billion into Venezuela. But journal reporter Cajul Villas says that analysts feel the new bill falls short of what's needed to unlock such investments.

Cajul Villas (2:56)

It will lower the mandatory 60 percent state participation in joint oil projects down to around 50 percent. It also lowers royalty rates from around 30 percent down to as low as 15 percent. And it also calls for investors to have the capability of arbitration, which is very important, especially in Venezuela, where many companies have been burned in the past, having had their projects nationalized and having limited recourse in how to try to recoup their investments. Analysts are still quite skeptical over how successful it's going to be, namely because the government has a long track record of breaking contracts and really testy relationships with foreign investors. And so there is understandably quite a bit of doubts over how serious they are this time around.

Luke Vargas (3:48)

Meanwhile, a resolution to rein in President Trump's powers to wage war in Venezuela was narrowly defeated in the House yesterday after a tied vote of 215 to 215 That's after Republican leaders hustled to bring a Texas lawmaker back to DC to cast the deciding vote. The resolution would have prohibited US troops from being deployed in Venezuela without authorization by Congress. The Senate had previously advanced and then rejected a similar measure after threats from Trump.

Good news for roughly two and three Americans. TikTok officially isn't going anywhere. The company has formally inked a joint venture allowing it to keep operating in the US., ending a years-long fight over whether to ban the video-sharing app on national security grounds. And joining me to break down this deal shifting operations of TikTok to American investors and to recap the roller coaster ride that got us here is the Journal's Stu Woo. Stu walk us through the details of this deal. Who's getting what exactly?

Stu Woo (4:49)