President Trump is reportedly set to extend the deadline for the sale of TikTok for a third time — as the threat of a U.S. ban looms next week (June 19.)
On January 19, American social media users woke up to find that they no longer had access to TikTok, after the law — which was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court — banning it on national security grounds came into effect.
However, TikTok resumed services hours later and restored access to its 170 million users in the U.S. after Trump said he would issue an executive order to give the app a reprieve when he took office.
And shortly after taking office on January 20, Trump issued an order that gave TikTok a 75-day extension to keep operating in the country and find a U.S. buyer.
However, after no deal was reached between the app’s Chinese owner and prospective buyers by April 5, Trump gave TikTok’s parent company ByteDance a second extension to the deadline and a further 75 days to sell the app.
A Third Extension for TikTok
But now, with less than seven days left in the current 75-day pause on enforcing the TikTok ban, Trump is expected to sign an executive order delaying enforcement again, according to sources cited The Wall Street Journal.
This would mark the third extension since Trump took office in January, with the current hold set to expire on June 19.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the White House had been working on a deal to transfer TikTok ownership to American investors. However, the talks stalled after Trump imposed heavy tariffs on Chinese imports in early April. Administration officials say the same deal framework remains, but progress is unlikely until tensions with Beijing ease. The White House did not respond to requests for comment from the news outlet.
Since the first executive order, Trump has said that he wants to help broker a sale of TikTok– and that he believes the U.S. government should be granted a 50% stake in the company as a condition. Amazon and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian have separately joined bids to buy TikTok. Meanwhile, Microsoft has also reportedly been in talks to buy the app too, according to Trump.
Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.
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