Shortly after Monday’s inauguration ceremony, President Donald Trump signed an executive order extending the deadline for ByteDance to sell TikTok’s U.S. operations, preventing the app from going offline. for an additional 75 days.
The executive order directs the US Attorney General to refrain from enforcing the law that would ban the app and require companies like Apple and Google to remove it from their app stores. TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Days before the Jan. 19 deadline, Trump suggested he would “put away” the app once he formally took 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 planned to do so. “We have to look at it carefully. “It is a very big situation,” he said.
In a Truth Social post on SundayTrump confirmed that the extension would be made through an executive order that would allow his administration to negotiate a deal with ByteDance. In his post, Trump said he would pursue a 50-50 joint venture deal with ByteDance, preferably with a US entity.
“By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands, and allow it to stay active,” Trump wrote. “Without US approval, there is no TikTok. With our approval, it is worth hundreds of billions of dollars, perhaps 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 participate in financing the negotiation. “I think there are a lot of people who will be interested in TikTok with the United States as a partner,” he said.
The rush to keep TikTok online came after the company suffered a devastating blow at the hands of the US Supreme Court. On Friday, the court upheld a law requiring TikTok to be sold to an American owner to avoid a nationwide ban. The decision was made just two days before the law went 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 the sale or ban law. Around the same time Apple and Google removed the app from their app stores, other ByteDance-owned apps were also removed, including CapCut, Lemon8, and Marvel Snap. TikTok was down for about 15 hours before the company issued a statement announcing it would be returning.
“According to 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 sanctions in bringing TikTok to more than 170 million Americans and enabling more than 7 million small businesses to thrive,” the company said. Sunday evening.
The divestment bill has faced resentment from both sides of the aisle. “In Washington DC we are holding meetings to try to get this TikTok ban lifted,” wrote Soulja Boy, in a post on X over the weekend. The rap artist was in town to perform at a cryptocurrency industry kickoff party.
Several American financiers considered purchasing the app, including former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt and Trump’s former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. McCourt’s Freedom Project made a formal offer after the Supreme Court announced its decision. Elon Musk’s name also came up in talks 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 U.S. government’s national security concerns with TikTok. “I’m not saying I would do it, but you certainly could,” he said.