President Trump indicated Sunday that he expects to reach a deal on TikTok ahead of an April 5 deadline for his administration to begin enforcing a ban on the popular video-sharing app.
When asked aboard Air Force One whether he would extend the deadline if necessary, the president said, “There’ll be a deal with TikTok.” However, he added, “We would,” seemingly in response to the extension question.
“We’re working on TikTok,” Trump said. “We have a lot of potential buyers. There’s tremendous interest in TikTok.”
“We’re dealing with China also on it because they may have something to do with it. And we’ll see how that goes,” he added. “But it’s something I think you’re going to have, I’d like to see TikTok remain alive.”
A law banning the app is set to go into effect Saturday. The law, passed by large bipartisan majorities in Congress last April, requires TikTok’s China-based parent company ByteDance to divest from the app or face a ban on U.S. networks and app stores.
It was initially meant to take effect on Jan. 19, just one day before Trump’s inauguration. However, former President Biden declined to enforce the law in his final days in office, and Trump signed an executive order giving TikTok a 75-day reprieve amid a push by the new administration to strike a deal.
Numerous buyers have made offers for the app, although Larry Ellison’s Oracle has emerged as a top contender, according multiple media outlets.
While Trump previously said he would “probably” extend the April 5 deadline if a deal isn’t reached in time, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick emphasized earlier this month that the president wants to hammer out a deal under the current deadline.
“It’s in Donald Trump’s hands. He is going to make the decision how he wants to play it,” Lutnick said. “And you know Donald Trump. He wants to do it in the timeframe that he was given.”
Trump has also floated reducing tariffs on China in order to get the TikTok deal across the finish line. The president levied another 10 percent tariff on all Chinese goods this month, on top of an earlier 10 percent import tax.
“With respect to TikTok, and China is going to have to play a role in that, possibly in the form of an approval, maybe, and I think they’ll do that,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday. “Maybe I’ll give them a little reduction in tariffs or something to get it done.”
