Donald Trump may again extend the deadline for the Chinese owner of TikTok to sell its US operation or face a ban as senior officials from Washington and Beijing hold a fresh round of trade talks in Spain.
The reprieve, if granted, would be the fourth since Trump began his second term as president in January.
A law passed by Congress required TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to sell its American business by January 2025 or face shutdown but the president delayed its enforcement. Trump went on to repeatedly postpone the deadline, the latest due to expire on Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters in New Jersey on Sunday, Trump said that he “may or may not” extend the deadline once more.
“We are negotiating TikTok right now. We may let it die, or we may… I don’t know,” he said. “It depends on China. It doesn’t matter too much. I would love to do it for the kids, they like it.”
The platform, used by around 170 million Americans, has long been a topic of national security debates in Washington.
Many lawmakers have claimed that Beijing could exploit the app to spy on or influence American citizens. Trump, however, has dismissed such concerns as “highly overrated” and has argued that TikTok should be saved, noting its popularity among young voters.
A plan drawn up earlier this year would have created a new company to run TikTok’s American business, with majority ownership in the hands of US investors.
Progress stalled when Beijing indicated it would block transfer of the company’s algorithm following the White House’s announcement of steep new tariffs on Chinese goods.
Trump initially supported banning TikTok outright during his first term, but later softened his stance, delaying action three times. Last month, he claimed US buyers were prepared to step in if ByteDance agreed to sell and hinted that further extensions were possible.
The White House is still to comment on a likely extension, which analysts say reflects the administration’s reluctance to shut down a widely used platform.
The future of TikTok is expected to feature in trade discussions now under way in Madrid, led by treasury secretary Scott Bessent and trade representative Jamieson Greer, who are meeting Chinese vice premier He Lifeng and top negotiator Li Chenggang.
Trade talks between the world’s two largest economies have dragged on for months, with previous rounds in Geneva, London and Stockholm focusing on tariffs and market access.
The two sides have agreed to prolong a truce on tariffs exceeding 100 per cent until November this year, giving negotiators more time to address disputes over what the US has called “unfair trade practices” as well as security concerns linked to technology firms.
American officials hope the ongoing talks will prepare the ground for a possible meeting between Trump and Chinese president Xi Jinping at a summit in South Korea in October.
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