President Donald Trump plans to grant yet another extension to TikTok parent company ByteDance, giving it time to work out a deal to sell to a U.S.-approved company.
Last year, Congress passed a bill, which former President Joe Biden subsequently signed into law, that gave ByteDance, a Chinese company, nine months to sell TikTok or face a nationwide ban.
Trump has extended the deadline for TikTok to sell or be banned twice, with the most recent extension set to end Thursday.
On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the president plans to sign an executive order that would extend the deadline, a third time, for another 90 days.
“As he has said many times, President Trump does not want TikTok to go dark,” Leavitt said in a statement to multiple outlets Tuesday. “This extension will last 90 days, which the Administration will spend working to ensure this deal is closed so that the American people can continue to use TikTok with the assurance that their data is safe and secure.”
Trump’s efforts to save TikTok from a nationwide ban show a dramatic shift from his earlier position on the widely popular social media platform.
During his first presidency, Trump signed an executive order banning TikTok, citing a threat to U.S. national security — an argument that lawmakers made while last year’s bill was moving through Capitol Hill. Trump’s ban was blocked by the courts.
ByteDance has previously said that any deal would have to be approved by China, which Trump seemed to acknowledge while speaking to reporters earlier Tuesday.
"Probably have to get China approval but I think we'll get it. I think President Xi will ultimately approve it,” Trump said on Air Force One, per Reuters.
The Associated Press, citing an unnamed source, reported in April that China “hit the brakes” on a TikTok deal with the U.S. after Trump announced his sweeping tariffs, which hit China hard.
A person familiar with the matter told the AP the Trump administration had believed they were close to a deal for a U.S.-based company to take over the app’s operations as the tariffs were imposed.
ByteDance called the White House to indicate China would not approve of a deal until tariff negotiations took place, according to the source.
