TikTok is once again getting a last-minute reprieve.
President Trump on Tuesday said he’ll likely extend the deadline for China-based ByteDance to sell the short-form video platform before it’s scheduled to go dark on Thursday, according to Reuters.
Trump also told reporters aboard Air Force One that he expects a deal to ultimately come together and believes Chinese President Xi Jinping will approve the sale.
This marks the third time Trump has delayed the TikTok divestment deadline. The app briefly went offline in January just before Trump took office, before he pushed the cutoff to April as talks dragged on.
In April, Trump issued a second executive order that extended the sale deadline again—but that order is now set to expire Thursday.
Trump had originally called for a ban on TikTok during his first term but reversed course during the 2024 election campaign, calling the app a needed counterbalance to Meta’s (META) dominance in the social media space. Trump has a long-standing feud with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who suspended him from Facebook and Instagram after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Trump later threatened to imprison Zuckerberg.
In January, Meta agreed to pay $25 million to settle a lawsuit Trump filed over the suspension.
Trump’s tone toward TikTok shifted after he credited the platform with helping him attract younger voters in his reelection bid. He later invited TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew to his presidential inauguration, alongside major tech leaders including Apple (AAPL) CEO Tim Cook, Google (GOOG, GOOGL) CEO Sundar Pichai, and Zuckerberg.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew looks on ahead of the presidential inauguration of Donald Trump at the Rotunda of the US Capitol in Washington on Jan. 20. (Reuters/Kevin Lamarque/Pool)
The original law banning TikTok was passed by Congress and signed by former President Joe Biden in 2024. That law mandates that ByteDance divest TikTok or face a US ban. If ByteDance fails to comply, US cloud providers and app stores must stop hosting the app or risk significant penalties.
However, the Trump administration has told those companies they won’t be penalized while the deadline remains extended.
TikTok had previously challenged the law in court, escalating the case to the Supreme Court. But the court ruled in favor of the government, citing potential national security concerns.
US officials have long warned that TikTok could be exploited by the Chinese government to spread propaganda or collect data on Americans that could be used for blackmail. While no direct evidence has been made public, the concern has remained a key justification for the push to force a sale.
A number of parties have shown interest in acquiring TikTok. Billionaire Frank McCourt Jr. is leading one group of investors, while others reportedly include Microsoft, YouTube star Mr. Beast, and Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison.
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