President Donald Trump is giving TikTok more time to sell its US operations, saying that “tremendous progress” has been made toward a deal and pushing off enforcement of a ban that was set to kick in Saturday.
in a Friday afternoon post on his Truth Social account, Trump said that despite that progress, the deal still needs more work, so he’s signing an executive order giving TikTok 75 more days. The move prevents the wildly popular video app from potentially going dark in less than a day.
Trump went on to say that his administration will continue to work with China and credited the tariffs he enacted earlier this week, calling them “the most powerful economic tool” and “very important” to national security.
“We do not want TikTok to ‘go dark,'” Trump said in his post. “We look forward to working with TikTok and China to close the Deal.”
The delay wasn’t unexpected. Several potential bidders for TikTok’s US operations have made their interest known in just the past few days and Trump has been meeting with administration officials this week to discuss possible deals and ownership structures.
According to recent reporting by The New York Times, one plan included private equity firm Blackstone and the tech company Oracle, while another involved a last-minute bid from Amazon.
Trump previously told the press on Sunday that “there’s tremendous interest in TikTok.” He added that he would “like to see TikTok remain alive.” The president also said that “we have a lot of potential buyers” and that his administration is “dealing with China,” which has long opposed a sale.
On March 26, Trump said he would consider lowering tariffs on Chinese goods if that country’s government approved a sale of TikTok’s US operations. He also at that time reiterated his willingness to push the deadline back if needed.
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Lawmakers in both political parties have long voiced concerns that TikTok could be a threat to national security and could be used by the Chinese government to spy on Americans or spread disinformation to further China’s agenda. The law requiring the sale was passed by Congress last year with overwhelming bipartisan support and signed into law by then-President Joe Biden.
TikTok continues to deny those accusations, and both it and the Chinese government have said they oppose a sale. It’s unclear if they’ve changed their positions. A spokesperson for TikTok didn’t return a Thursday request for comment.
So what’s next for TikTok? Here’s what you need to know.
Watch this: US vs. TikTok: What Happens Next
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What does the law do?
The law is aimed at forcing TikTok’s China-based parent company ByteDance to sell TikTok to a buyer American officials are OK with, as well as guaranteeing that ByteDance no longer has access to US user data or control over the TikTok algorithm.
TikTok was given nine months to comply, hence the original Jan. 19 sale deadline, at which point the government could require the removal of its app from US app stores and that other tech companies stop supporting the app and website.
TikTok shut down in the US the night of Jan. 18, citing the ban, but came back online the next morning after Trump made assurances that he would not immediately enforce it. Trump later formalized that promise by signing an executive order that directed the attorney general to not enforce the ban for 75 days, effectively moving the deadline to April 5.
The new executive order pushes the deadline back to June 19.
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What’s Trump’s take?
After originally calling for a ban during his first presidency, Trump said during the 2024 campaign that he wasn’t in favor of one and pledged to “save TikTok,” though he didn’t specify how he’d do that.
Trump also has floated the idea of the US taking a 50% stake in the company as part of a joint venture, but hasn’t given specifics as to how that would work.
TikTok CEO Shou Chew was one of several high-profile tech executives to attend Trump’s inauguration in January, just hours before Trump would sign the order granting the 75-day extension.
Previous to that, during a press conference in December, Trump pointed to the role TikTok played during the election, crediting it with helping him pick up the votes of young people.
“TikTok had an impact, and so we’re taking a look at it,” Trump said. “I have a little bit of a warm spot in my heart. I’ll be honest.”
