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Shortly after Monday’s inauguration ceremony, President Donald Trump signed an executive order extending the deadline for ByteDance to sell TikTok’s US operations, preventing the app from going dark. for an additional 75 days.
The executive order directs the US Attorney General to refrain from enforcing the law that bans the app and demands that companies such as Apple and Google remove it from their app stores. TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Days before the January 19 deadline, Trump suggested that he would “save” the app once he formally took office. In an interview with Kristen Welker at NBC News on SaturdayTrump said he would give ByteDance more time to find a buyer, but did not explain how he planned to do that. “We have to look carefully. It’s a very big situation,” he said.
In a Sunday Social Truth postTrump confirmed that the extension will be made through an executive order allowing his administration to negotiate a deal with ByteDance. In his post, Trump said he would pursue a 50 percent joint venture agreement with ByteDance, preferably with a US entity.
“By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands and let it (stay),” Trump wrote. “Without the approval of the United States, there is no TikTok. With our approval, it is worth hundreds of billions of dollars – maybe trillions.”
ByteDance and TikTok have yet to publicly respond to Trump’s proposal. At Monday’s signing ceremony, Trump said he thinks TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew would “really like it.” Trump said that private companies could be involved in financing the negotiation. “I think you have a lot of people who will be interested in TikTok with the United States as a partner,” he said.
The executive order itself does not mention the waiver, but instead says the 75-day suspension is for “an opportunity to determine the appropriate course forward in an orderly manner.”
The race to keep TikTok online came after the company suffered a devastating blow at the hands of United States Supreme Court. On Friday, the court upheld a law that forced the sale of TikTok to an American owner to prevent a national ban. The decision came just two days before the law was to take effect.
Shortly before midnight on Saturday, TikTok users received a notification warning them that the app was no longer available to US users due to sales or embargo laws. At the same time Apple and Google removed the app from their app stores, other ByteDance apps, including CapCut, Lemon8, and Marvel Snap, were also removed. TikTok was down for about 15 hours before the company issued a statement announcing it would return.
“In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service. We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will not face any penalties providing TikTok to more of 170 million Americans and enabling more than 7 million small businesses to thrive,” the company said. Sunday evening.
The divestment law has faced resentment from both sides of the aisle. “In Washington DC holding meetings to try to lift this ban on TikTok,” wrote Soulja Boy, in a post on X over the weekend. The rap artist was in town to perform at a crypto industry launch party.
A variety of American financiers considered buying the appincluding former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt and former Trump Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. McCourt’s Freedom Project made a formal offer after the Supreme Court announced its decision. Elon Musk’s name has also been floated in discussions about a deal with the Chinese government, according to Bloomberg.
On Monday, Trump suggested he could impose retaliatory tariffs against China if the Chinese government refuses to negotiate a deal that resolves the US government’s national security concerns with TikTok. “I’m not saying I’m going to do it, but you certainly could,” he said.
