Trump extends TikTok sale deadline 75 more days, sees 'tremendous progress' on deal
Trump says his administration is 'working very hard' on a deal to save the app for U.S. consumers
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President Donald Trump on Friday extended a deadline for TikTok's Chinese owner to sell the app to an American buyer or have the platform shut down in the U.S.
"My Administration has been working very hard on a Deal to SAVE TIKTOK, and we have made tremendous progress. The Deal requires more work to ensure all necessary approvals are signed, which is why I am signing an Executive Order to keep TikTok up and running for an additional 75 days," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
"We hope to continue working in Good Faith with China, who I understand are not very happy about our Reciprocal Tariffs (Necessary for Fair and Balanced Trade between China and the U.S.A.!). This proves that Tariffs are the most powerful Economic tool, and very important to our National Security!" Trump added. "We do not want TikTok to ‘go dark.’ We look forward to working with TikTok and China to close the Deal. Thank you for your attention to this matter!"
Shortly after taking office, Trump signed an executive order giving ByteDance an April 5 deadline to divest TikTok to an American buyer or shut down the platform.
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President Donald Trump delivers remarks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., on March 24. (Win McNamee/Getty Images / Getty Images)
In April 2024, Congress passed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which gave TikTok nine months to either divest from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, or be removed from U.S.-based app stores and hosting services.
The app — which the Trump administration says is used by 170 million Americans — was temporarily removed in January, as no deal was reached.
Trump, on his first day in office, then issued an executive order granting TikTok more time to operate and work toward compliance with the law, pushing the deadline to this Saturday, April 5.
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TikTok was temporarily removed from U.S. app stores in January this year. (Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Trump said in late March that the deadline could be extended if a deal isn’t finished by then.
"We will have a form of a deal. TikTok is very popular, very successful, very good. We're going to have a form of a deal. But if it's not finished, it's not a big deal. We'll just extend it. I have the right to have the deal and to extend it. If I want. So, we'll see whether or not we have a deal. We have a lot of interest in TikTok," the president said.
His administration is reportedly finalizing plans for potential investors that could include Blackstone and Oracle, as well as a long list of other investors that will likely involve blue-chip private equity firms, venture capital firms, and major investors in the technology industry, as first reported by CBS News.
The ByteDance logo is seen at the company's headquarters in Shanghai. (VCG/VCG via Getty Images / Getty Images)
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During the presidential campaign, Trump said he would "never ban TikTok" after joining the platform, but during his first term in office, he advocated for the action, citing national security concerns.
FOX Business' Alexandra Koch and Patrick Ward contributed to this report.