Shortly after the inauguration on Monday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order extending ByteDance’s deadline to sell TikTok’s U.S. operations, preventing the app from going dark. For an additional 75 days.
The executive order orders the US Attorney General to refrain from enforcing the law that bans the app and requires companies such as Apple and Google to remove it from their app stores. TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Days before the January 19 deadline, Trump suggested he would “save” the application once he officially takes office. In an interview with Kristen Welker on NBC News on SaturdayTrump said he would give ByteDance more time to find a buyer, but did not explain how he intended to do that. “We have to look at it carefully. It is a very big situation,” he said.
In Sunday’s Social Truth postTrump confirmed that the extension will be done through an executive order allowing his administration to negotiate a deal with ByteDance. Trump said in his post that he would seek to conclude a 50% joint venture agreement with ByteDance, preferably with a US entity.
“By doing this, we are saving TikTok, keeping it in good hands and allowing it to do so [stay] Trump wrote. “Without US approval, there would be no TikTok. With our approval, it would be worth hundreds of billions of dollars, perhaps trillions.”
ByteDance and TikTok have not yet responded publicly to Trump’s proposal. At the signing ceremony on Monday, Trump said he thought TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew would “really like it.” Trump said that private companies may participate in financing the negotiations. “I think you have a lot of people who would be interested in TikTok with the United States as a partner,” he said.
The executive order itself does not mention divestment, but instead says the 75-day deadline is “to provide the opportunity to determine the appropriate path forward in an orderly manner.”
The rush to keep TikTok online came after the company was dealt a devastating blow by the US Supreme Court. On Friday, the court upheld a law requiring the sale of TikTok to a US owner in order to avoid a nationwide ban. The decision came just two days before the law came into effect.
Shortly before midnight on Saturday, TikTok users received a notification alerting them that the app was no longer available to US users as a result of a sell-by or ban law. Around the same time, Apple and Google removed the app from their app stores, and other apps owned by ByteDance, 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 for providing TikTok to more than 170 million Americans and allowing more than 7 million small businesses to thrive,” the company said. Sunday evening.
The Divestment Act has faced resentment on both sides of the aisle. “In Washington, D.C., meetings are being held to try to lift the ban on TikTok,” Soulja Boy wrote in an article. Post on X over the weekend. The rap artist was in town to perform at the launch of the cryptocurrency industry.
A variety of US financiers have considered purchasing the app, including former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt and former Trump Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. McCourt Freedom Project Make a formal offer After the Supreme Court announced its decision. Elon Musk’s name has also been raised in talks about a deal with the Chinese government. According to Bloomberg.
Trump suggested on Monday that he might impose retaliatory tariffs against China if the Chinese government refuses to negotiate a deal that resolves the U.S. government’s national security concerns with TikTok. “I’m not saying I’ll do it, but you certainly can do it,” he said.