TikTok will live on for at least another three months in the United States, as President Donald Trump is poised to extend a sale or ban deadline for the third time since taking office this year.
"President Trump will sign an additional Executive Order this week to keep TikTok up and running," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday.
After ByteDance, the popular video sharing app's Chinese owner, failed to sell it to a US buyer by a January deadline, the app was supposed to be banned in the US. TikTok and ByteDance did not immediately respond to requests for comment from the BBC.
"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," Leavitt stated in reference to the 90-day extension. Trump stated to the BBC that he would "probably" extend the TikTok deadline prior to Leavitt's announcement. Trump stated, "We'll probably have to get China's approval." "I believe we will get it. I think President Xi will ultimately approve it."
He responded, "We do," when asked if he had the legal authority to extend the deadline. Trump's extension goes against the will of Congress, which last year passed the sale-or-ban law. The bill was immediately ratified by Joe Biden, his predecessor as president. Concerns that China might use TikTok, which has 170 million American users, as a tool for spying and political manipulation were the focus of the law. In January, just before Trump was scheduled to take office, the Supreme Court agreed with a lower court and upheld the law. The platform briefly went dark for a few hours during the weekend before Trump's inauguration.
Trump was lauded by TikTok for saving the platform when it became available once more. During his first term in office, Trump attempted to compel the sale of TikTok to an American buyer in 2020. However, Trump stated last year that he liked the platform because he believed it helped him win the presidential election in 2024. "I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok, because I won youth by 34 points," Trump said in December, although most young voters backed the Democratic candidate Kamala Harris.
Because of Trump's unilateral extensions of deadlines, some analysts have ruled out the possibility that he will ever enact a ban. "What ban? Kelsey Chickering, a principal analyst at Forrester, stated, "The potential TikTok ban is no longer "looming." "As they rolled out new AI video tools this week at Cannes, TikTok's behavior also indicates that they are confident in their future." Ms. Chickering went on to say, "Smaller players like Snap will try to steal share during this "uncertain time," but they will not succeed because this next round for TikTok is not at all uncertain." In April, the Trump administration said that the US and China were close to a deal that would have given American ownership of TikTok's US operations majority control. That deal has yet to materialise.
"There are key matters to be resolved," a ByteDance spokesperson said at the time. According to Chinese law, "any agreement will be subject to approval." Oracle, whose co-founder Larry Ellison is a longtime ally of Trump's, has expressed interest in purchasing it. Billionaire Frank McCourt, Canadian businessman Kevin O'Leary, and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian are part of another team bidding for the platform.
Additionally, the most successful YouTuber on the planet, Jimmy Donaldson, also known as Mr. Beast, has indicated that he would be interested in purchasing TikTok as a member of a distinct investor group.
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