Trump extends deadline for US TikTok sale to September

WASHINGTON: U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday extended to September 17 a deadline for China-based ByteDance to divest the U.S. assets of short-video app TikTok despite a law that mandated a sale or shutdown without significant progress.

AI Brief

Trump delayed TikTok's shutdown deadline again, giving 90 more days to finalise a sale to US investors.
He believes a deal will be approved by China despite trade tensions and sees TikTok as vital for young voter support.
Legal concerns remain, with critics saying Trump may lack authority to extend the deadline or finalise the deal.

Trump signed an executive order pushing back Thursday's deadline for 90 days, a step he had previously signaled.

The Republican president had already twice granted a reprieve from federal enforcement of a law that mandated the sale or shutdown of TikTok that was supposed to take effect in January, absent significant progress toward a sale.

Trump has said he wants to keep the app, which helped him woo young voters in the 2024 presidential election, active in the U.S.

He has also expressed optimism that Chinese President Xi Jinping would approve a deal that preserves the app, though it is unclear how significantly the topic has featured in the two countries' ongoing talks to resolve a tariff dispute.

"We are grateful for President Trump's leadership and support in ensuring that TikTok continues to be available," TikTok said in a statement posted on its website.

The company said it is continuing to work with U.S. Vice President JD Vance's office on the matter.

"It's more time; more time to make a good deal," White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told reporters at a briefing on Thursday. She added that White House lawyers and the Department of Justice believed the extension was on strong legal footing.

Leavitt said on Tuesday that, "President Trump does not want TikTok to go dark," and added the administration would spend the next three months making sure the sale closes and protects U.S. consumers' data.

Trump had said on Tuesday he would "probably" extend the deadline. "Probably have to get China approval, but I think we'll get it," he told reporters aboard Air Force One. "I think President Xi will ultimately approve it."

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A 2024 law required TikTok to stop operating by January 19 unless TikTok's Chinese parent ByteDance had completed divesting the app's U.S. assets or demonstrated significant progress toward a sale.

Trump began his second term as president on January 20 and opted not to enforce the law. He first extended the deadline to early April, and then again last month to June 19.

In March, Trump said he would be willing to reduce tariffs on China to get a deal done with ByteDance to sell the short-video app used by 170 million Americans.

A deal had been in the works this spring that would spin off TikTok's U.S. operations into a new U.S.-based firm, majority-owned and operated by U.S. investors, but it was put on hold after China indicated it would not approve it following Trump's announcements of steep tariffs on Chinese goods.

Some Democratic lawmakers argue that Trump has no legal authority to extend the deadline and suggest that the deal under consideration would not meet legal requirements.