ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, has been given an additional ninety days by President Donald Trump to sell the short-form video app to an American buyer.
Trump issued an executive order on Thursday that gives the Chinese company a third extension to sell its platform and keep operating in the US.
“I recently signed the Executive Order that extends the TikTok closing deadline by ninety days, to September 17, 2025. I appreciate you taking the time to look into this. Trump stated on Truth Social.
A statement issued by TikTok read: “We are grateful for President Trump’s leadership and support in ensuring that TikTok continues to be available for more than 170 million American users and 7.5 million U.S. businesses that rely on the platform as we continue to work with Vice President [JD] Vance’s Office.”
Trump stated Wednesday morning on Air Force One that he thought Chinese President Xi Jinping would be open to a deal to sell the immensely popular app. According to Trump, if a buyer steps forward, Xi would need to approve a deal. Beijing is home to ByteDance.
The administration wanted to make sure that Americans could still access TikTok, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
President Trump does not want TikTok to go dark, as he has stated repeatedly. The administration will work to close this deal during the 90-day extension period, allowing Americans to continue using TikTok with the knowledge that their data is secure, Leavitt stated.
According to the Pew Research Centre, TikTok has 170 million users in the United States, and support for a ban has decreased. TikTok briefly went offline prior to Trump’s inauguration earlier this year after a law prohibiting the app was first passed during the Biden administration due to national security concerns.
But TikTok started up again after Trump indicated he intended to keep the app available in the United States.
TikTok has stated that American data is not kept in China and denied that it presented any security risks to the US.
American users flocked to the Chinese social media app RedNote after the TikTok ban was lifted last year, saying they didn’t care that China could access their data. It seems that users have gone back to TikTok and are using RedNote less since the app was granted an extension in the United States.
After taking office, Trump signed an extension that gave ByteDance an additional 75 days to find a buyer for the app. April 5 was the last day of that extension. Some prospective TikTok suitors indicated interest in buying the app prior to the April 5 deadline.
Amazon bid on TikTok at the last minute. The treasury secretary of the first Trump administration, Steven Mnuchin, the artificial intelligence search engine startup Perplexity AI, and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, who joined billionaire investor Frank McCourt’s bid, were among the other people who showed interest.
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Above Despite Trump officials’ confidence that the app would sell, no agreement was reached after China was hit with sweeping tariffs. The app was scheduled to expire on Thursday, but Trump extended its validity by another ninety days.
ByteDance is required by law to sell TikTok to a buyer located in the United States. ByteDance has been silent about whether it has made up its mind to make a deal and has previously stated that it would not sell TikTok.
Trump’s stance to keep TikTok in the United States is a reversal of his executive order banning the app during his first term. Later, the courts reversed that ban.
The Biden-era law prohibiting the app unless it is sold to an American owner has been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.
