President Trump announced today he has signed an executive order extending the deadline for TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance to sell the popular social media app to an American buyer. The extension gives ByteDance an additional 75 days beyond tomorrow’s original deadline, which would have potentially resulted in TikTok being banned from U.S. app stores.
“I’m signing an executive order to keep TikTok up and running for an additional 75 days,” Trump stated. “We do not want TikTok to go dark.”
The president tied this decision to ongoing trade negotiations with China, specifically mentioning tariffs in his announcement. “We hope to continue working in good faith with China, who I understand are not very happy with our reciprocal tariffs,” the president said, adding that “this proves tariffs are the most powerful economic tool.”
This marks the second time Trump has extended the deadline. The original requirement for ByteDance to sell TikTok’s U.S. assets came from a law passed in 2024 under the Biden administration, with an initial deadline of January 19, 2025. Trump signed his first executive order delaying enforcement on January 20 when he took office.
Multiple U.S. companies have submitted bids to purchase TikTok, which has approximately 170 million American users. Amazon made a last-minute bid just days before the previous April 5 deadline, sending a letter to Vice President JD Vance and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. The e-commerce giant has long had ambitions to develop its own social media presence, having previously purchased Twitch and Goodreads.
Other potential bidders include Oracle, Blackstone, mobile technology company AppLovin, and a consortium organized by billionaire businessman Frank McCourt, which recently recruited Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian as a strategic advisor. Former Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin has also expressed interest.
ByteDance acknowledged the ongoing discussions in a statement, saying the company “has been in discussion with the U.S. Government regarding a potential solution for TikTok U.S. An agreement has not been executed. There are key matters to be resolved. Any agreement will be subject to approval under Chinese law.”
Business experts note the extension raises questions about potential legal challenges and what this means for app distribution platforms like Apple’s App Store and Google Play. However, content creators and small business owners who generate revenue through TikTok have expressed relief at the extension.
The new deadline pushes the decision to mid-June, giving the administration more time to negotiate what Trump has described as a deal requiring “more work to ensure all necessary approvals are signed.”
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