Newscasts - The Week in Numbers: Trump goes nuclear, TikTok sells up

Trump Media & Technology

19/12/2025 11:13

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Source: 'Reuters - Business videos'

Description: From Trump Media's unusual nuclear move to TikTok's big U.S. sale, Francis Maguire rounds up the big stories in business and finance for the week ending December 19. 

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Video Transcript:

From how Trump Media went nuclear to TikTok's big US sale, this is The Week in Numbers.

$6 billion was the value of an unusual merger between President Donald Trump's social media company and a nuclear fusion firm. It will see a tie-up between Trump Media and Google-backed TAE Technologies. It comes just days after fusion industry leaders asked for more federal funding from the US Energy Department. Peter Loge leads the Project on Ethics and Political Communication at the George Washington University.

Anytime, a member of the President's family's name is on a commercial enterprise, it raises ethical questions. Are people buying the thing because the President's name is on it? Are people buying Trump-branded products because they think it'll help them get close to the President or the President will like them more?

Just over 80% of TikTok's US business will be sold to avoid a ban in the country. Chinese-owner ByteDance said it had signed a binding agreement with three major investors: Oracle, Silver Lake, and Abu Dhabi-based MGX. The deal will build a new US company called "TikTok USDS" joint venture with ByteDance holding just under a fifth of it. 0.75% is the new benchmark interest rate in Japan up from a previous 0.5%. It's the highest number seen in three decades and the Bank of Japan showed a readiness for further hikes. Policymakers also removed language that growth and price rises will stagnate due to higher US tariffs, which showed their belief the country is on course to hit its 2% inflation target. $19.5 billion is the write-down taken by Ford as it does a big rethink on electric cars. The auto giant killed several models and said it would pivot to gas and hybrid designs. Its move comes after demand for EVs fell in the US, where the Trump Administration has pulled incentives for buyers. And $108.4 billion was the hostile bid Warner Bros. Discovery turned down from Paramount Skydance. Warner's board argued Paramount's offer misled shareholders over its financing. It's argued the offer was inferior to a merger agreement it already had in place with Netflix. Whoever wins the bidding war will get hold of popular film franchises like "Harry Potter" and DC Comics.