President Trump said early Tuesday that he will likely extend the deadline once again for TikTok to divest from its China-based parent company ByteDance, preventing a U.S. ban from going into effect.
When asked whether he would give the popular video-sharing platform another extension, the president told reporters aboard Air Force One, “Probably, yeah.”
“Probably have to get China approval, but I think we’ll get it,” Trump said in the early hours of Tuesday morning, as he traveled back from the Group of Seven (G7) Summit in Canada. “I think President Xi [Jinping] will ultimately approve it.”
Trump has already extended the TikTok deadline twice since taking office. The law, passed by large bipartisan majorities in Congress last year, originally gave the platform until Jan. 19 to divest from ByteDance or face a ban on U.S. networks and app stores.
After the Supreme Court upheld the divest-or-ban law just days before it was set to take effect, the app briefly went dark in the U.S.
However, with the deadline falling the day before his successor’s inauguration, former President Biden ultimately opted not to enforce the measure, and Trump signed an initial 75-day extension on his first day in office.
Trump campaigned on saving TikTok and argued he could strike a deal to keep the app available in the U.S. However, as the administration’s trade policy has strained its relationship with Beijing, the TikTok deal has become increasingly tied up in trade negotiations.
The White House had finalized a deal on TikTok in early April, but it was ultimately derailed when Trump unveiled sweeping new “reciprocal” tariffs, including significant import taxes on Chinese goods.
The president ultimately extended the TikTok deadline another 75 days, which is set to expire on Jun. 19.
