President Trump said Friday that he plans to give TikTok another 75-day extension as his administration nears a deal to avert a ban on the popular social media platform.
“My Administration has been working very hard on a Deal to SAVE TIKTOK, and we have made tremendous progress,” he wrote Friday on Truth Social. “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 signed an executive order shortly after he took office to temporarily halt enforcement of a law that required the app’s China-based parent company ByteDance to divest or face a ban on U.S. networks and app stores. The order was set to expire Saturday.
“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.!),” the president added. “This proves that Tariffs are the most powerful Economic tool, and very important to our National Security! We do not want TikTok to ‘go dark.’”
Trump has repeatedly floated the possibility that he could ease tariffs on Beijing as part of a TikTok deal.
The administration has levied tariffs of more than 50 percent on Chinese imports, between the latest round of tariffs announced Wednesday and earlier import taxes imposed over the past two months.
A potential deal appeared to be taking shape in recent days. Trump said Thursday night aboard Air Force One that the administration was “very close to a deal with a very good group of people.”
The president hosted a meeting with top aides Wednesday and was presented with a deal, according to a White House official.
Vice President Vance and national security adviser Mike Watlz, whom Trump tasked with brokering a deal on TikTok, were expected to attend the meeting, along with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.
A source familiar with the meeting plans told The Hill potential investors included Blackstone and Oracle, as well as “blue chip private equity firms, venture capital firms and major investors in the technology industry.”
Several groups have launched last-minute bids to purchase TikTok in the final days leading up to Saturday’s deadline, joining an already crowded roster.
Amazon submitted an eleventh-hour bid to acquire the app, although the parties involved in talks do not appear to be taking it seriously, The New York Times reported. A source familiar confirmed the Times’s reporting to The Hill.
A startup led by OnlyFans founder Tim Stokely has also launched a bid for TikTok alongside cryptocurrency company the HBAR Foundation, according to Reuters.
They join several other bidders, including Perplexity AI and former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt.
Vance emphasized Thursday morning that the administration would announce a deal on TikTok ahead of Saturday’s deadline.
“It’ll come out before the deadline,” Vance told Fox News, adding, “We’ve got to wait a couple days to continue working on it, to finalize some things, and of course we’re going to let the president announce whatever we ultimately decide.”
