The following is the transcript of the interview with Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Mich., that aired on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on October 26, 2025.
MARGARET BRENNAN: And joining us now is the chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, Michigan Republican Rep. John Moolenaar. Welcome, Congressman.
REP. JOHN MOOLENAAR: Thank you, Margaret, it’s a pleasure to be with you.
MARGARET BRENNAN: There’s a lot to get along with you. But quickly, if the main adversary and threat to the United States is in China and the Pacific is driving them west, is every military in the Western Hemisphere so focused and focused on what needs to be done?
REP. MOOLENAAR: Well, I think we’re sending an important message that we’re no longer going to allow drug trafficking to come in and kill American lives. And you know, China is very much behind the fentanyl crisis that has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans, and that’s why…
MARGARET BRENNAN: –That’s mainly outside of Mexico.
REP. MOOLENAAR: Well, I think the president takes the Western Hemisphere very seriously, and I think getting drugs out of our backyard is an important step forward.
MARGARET BRENNAN: On the committee work that you’ve been doing, I’m sure you heard from Treasury Secretary Bessent at the top of the show saying that China agreed to the TikTok deal. 170 million Americans use this social media application. Congress passed a law to force this sale, citing it as a threat to national security if it continued to operate as it has. Have your national security concerns about the app and this transaction been addressed?
REP. MOOLENAAR: Well, I think it’s important that we keep in mind that the law requires divestment and taking control of the app and the algorithm away from the Chinese Communist Party, and allows ownership only up to 20% for the Chinese entity ByteDance. And for me it is very important that this be carried out. We don’t know all the details of this, but we know that American companies are very interested in participating. There is the proposal for a leasing agreement, but how to get that algorithm completely out of Chinese control will be up to the experts. You know, there are 6 million pieces of code in this algorithm and we need to make sure it’s protected for the American people.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So that algorithm is the data tracking system that pulls from a user’s habits. So the allegation was also that it was basically manipulating consumers in terms of what they could see. So, will that algorithm be maintained and updates will be made only by, for example, American engineers?
REP. MOOLENAAR: That would be my recommendation because ultimately we don’t want a Chinese propaganda effort to affect 170 million Americans. We also want to make sure that Americans’ data is kept secure, and as long as the Chinese are involved, I think there’s reason for mistrust, and…
MARGARET BRENNAN: Even with the 20% stake?
REP. MOOLENAAR: I’m still worried about that. Frankly, the Chinese inform the Chinese Communist Party and will take advantage of every advantage they get. But the President has set a goal to make this available to the American people, following the law that was passed in a bipartisan manner, and I trust that they are doing that.
MARGARET BRENNAN: The President has not followed the letter of the law you voted for. You already know it.
REP. MOOLENAAR: Well, I think – I think the goal has been to reach an agreement, to reach an agreement, and they’ve been working very hard to achieve that. But when you have the Chinese Communist Party, Xi Jinping, with direct influence in terms of what they will do and what they won’t do, it’s very difficult to continue to make that available. But I trust that the people who are negotiating that recognize that we have to take control of the algorithm from the Chinese Communist Party, the app, and make sure that ownership is controlled by the United States, not China.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So let’s talk about that property. The president said investors would include Michael Dell, Lachlan Murdoch, whose family owns Fox News, and Larry Ellison, whose son owns Paramount, parent company of CBS News. Are you concerned about people who support the president owning social media in this way?
REP. MOOLENAAR: You know, I think…
MARGARET BRENNAN: — Because it’s very powerful.
REP. MOOLENAAR: Well, I’m sure there are some investors. Not everyone is just a supporter of the President, but I think in this case, Congress has an oversight role and we will meet with the parties to the transaction. We will also have hearings on this, because at the end of the day, we want this to be controlled by American companies, regardless of their political affiliation. We don’t want it to be controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But Secretary Bessent said he got the Chinese to say yes, and on Thursday he used the word “consummated,” that this agreement will be signed between Xi and Trump. So your hearings are right after the fact? Or, you know, what effect do you hope they have?
REP. MOOLENAAR: Well, supervision. Congress has a legitimate oversight role. We passed a law…
MARGARET BRENNAN: — Which means you assume this deal is done. That this transaction is happening and you’re just going to monitor it?
REP. MOOLENAAR: I guess if the president comes to an agreement, which he does under the law, and if that happens on Thursday, then we’ll move forward. And there may be challenges to that law or its implementation, but Congress has an oversight role to ensure that the law is followed.
MARGARET BRENNAN: The Wall Street Journal reported that Xi Jinping called out TikTok, citing spiritual opium, and saw this as a low-cost bargaining chip for China. Do you think that’s what’s happening here? That this is something easy to deliver to…
REP. MOOLENAAR: I think it’s a very addictive app. China has made a lot of money from that, but it has also used it in a way that allows its information and propaganda to spread. They control the algorithm and that is why we passed that bipartisan law. That’s why I think Xi Jinping sees this as a strategic asset. That’s why he didn’t want to sell it to other American companies that were interested in buying it. So while they are involved, I think we need to recognize that TikTok, even an American version, could still be open to the influence of the Chinese Communist Party.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Or whoever the owner is.
REP. MOOLENAAR: Whoever owns it.
MARGARET BRENNAN: The algorithm.
REP. MOOLENAAR: The algorithm.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Congressman, thank you very much and we will be attentive to those hearings.
REP. MOOLENAAR: Thank you.
MARGARET BRENNAN: We’ll be right back.