With hours to go until the law banning TikTok in the US would have taken effect and no deal to sell the platform in sight, President Trump signed a new executive order to keep the app up and running. As a result of Trump’s latest action, TikTok parent company ByteDance has another 75 days to find a buyer for its US assets ahead of a potential ban.
“My Administration has been working very hard on a Deal to SAVE TIKTOK, and we have made tremendous progress,” Trump revealed on Truth Social on Friday. “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.”
He went on to note that he hopes to continue working with China “in good faith,” even though he understands the country is “not very happy” about his new tariffs—the same ones that convinced Nintendo to delay Switch 2 preorders in the US.
“We do not want TikTok to ‘go dark,’” President Trump added. “We look forward to working with TikTok and China to close the Deal. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
There have been several interested parties, but none have managed to pry TikTok’s US assets away from ByteDance so far. Amazon even submitted a last-minute bid this week, but the latest extension makes it clear that the bid didn’t go anywhere.
This is Trump’s third executive order regarding TikTok over the course of his two terms. Back in 2020, Trump signed an executive order banning TikTok, but following legal challenges delaying the ban, President Joe Biden signed an executive order in 2021 revoking the ban. After utilizing TikTok on the 2024 campaign trail, Trump changed his tune about the viral app and promised to keep it up and running. After winning the 2024 presidential election, one of Trump’s first actions in the Oval Office this year was signing an executive order delaying a law passed by Congress that would have banned the app in the US, barring a sale.
