Trump Gives TikTok a Three-Month Lifeline Amid Political and Legal Battles Over Chinese Control
Trump delays the ban by giving TikTok a 90-day extension, citing probable Chinese consent in spite of national security concerns and legislative law.
Following President Donald Trump’s announcement earlier this year that he would be extending the sale-or-ban deadline for TikTok for the third time since entering office, the app will be available in the US for at least another three months.
The Chinese-owned video-sharing website, which has more than 170 million users in the US, was predicted to be banned nationwide after ByteDance failed to sell its US business by a deadline set by law in January. However, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated on Tuesday that the platform will receive a 90-day extension when the president signs a new Executive Order this week.
Leavitt stated that President Trump will sign another Executive Order this week to maintain TikTok’s operations, with the goal of “ensuring this deal is closed so that the American people can continue to use TikTok with the assurance that their data is safe and secure.”
The extension runs counter to the bipartisan law signed by former President Joe Biden and passed by Congress last year, which would have forced TikTok to sell its US operations to an American company or face a total ban due to national security concerns.
In an interview with the BBC, Trump stated that he would “probably” support the extension and alluded to the fact that Chinese officials would eventually approve any agreement. He stated, “I believe President Xi will eventually approve it.” Trump said, “We do,” in response to a question about whether he had the legal right to extend the deadline.
ByteDance, the parent firm of TikTok, and the platform itself did not immediately respond to requests for an extension. After the app was restored after going down for a short time over the weekend before Trump’s inauguration, TikTok publicly thanked the president for “saving the platform.”
Trump’s position on TikTok has changed significantly from his unsuccessful attempt to compel the company to sell to the US computer firm Oracle during his first term. He now claims that in the 2024 election, the platform enabled him to win the youth vote. In December, he declared, “I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok, because I won youth by 34 points,” even though the majority of polls indicated that young voters supported Democratic candidate Kamala Harris.
A number of investor groups are still considering purchasing TikTok’s US division. One of the leading candidates is still Oracle, whose co-founder Larry Ellison has been a longstanding Trump supporter. Other potential suitors include YouTuber Jimmy Donaldson, also known as MrBeast, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, Canadian investor Kevin O’Leary, and billionaire Frank McCourt.
The future of TikTok in the US is still uncertain, though, due to geopolitical tensions. An important snag for any agreements is that, according to the South China Morning Post, any sale of TikTok would need Beijing’s consent under revised export control regulations.
A ban, according to industry analysts, is becoming less plausible despite the legal ambiguity. “What kind of ban? The possible TikTok ban is no longer “looming,” according to Kelsey Chickering, principal analyst at Forrester. She pointed out that TikTok is becoming more self-assured, particularly after the business last week at the Cannes Lions festival introduced new AI video features.
Because the next round for TikTok isn’t uncertain at all, smaller players like Snap will attempt to steal share during this “uncertain time,” but they won’t be successful, Chickering continued.
