President Trump on Thursday signed an executive order extending the deadline by another 90 days for TikTok to be sold to a US entity or banned from the country.
The video-sharing platform, which is owned by Chinese company ByteDance, now has until Sept. 17 to find an American buyer, according to a post by Trump on Truth Social.
He had floated the idea of another extension in May, telling reporters: “Probably, yeah. Probably have to get China approval but I think we’ll get it. I think President Xi will ultimately approve it.”
TikTok quickly cheered the decision in a statement: “We are grateful for President Trump’s leadership and support in ensuring that TikTok continues to be available for more than 170 million American users and 7.5 million US businesses that rely on the platform as we continue to work with Vice President Vance’s Office.”
It’s the third extension Trump has granted the platform after it helped him win over young voters in the 2024 election.
A congressionally mandated ban on the app was initially due to take effect in January, but the app went dark in the US for just 14 hours before Trump issued a reprieve.
The president has called for ByteDance to divest the US assets of TikTok on national security grounds, claiming it could give China access to a vast reserve of American user data.
TikTok has denied that it poses any security risks to the US and has claimed it does not store American data from the app in China.
Trump has softened his stance on the platform since his first term, when he tried to ban the app altogether with an executive order that was eventually overturned by the courts.
“As he has said many times, President Trump does not want TikTok to go dark. This extension will last 90 days, which the administration will spend working to ensure this deal is closed so that the American people can continue to use TikTok with the assurance that their data is safe and secure,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told several news outlets in a statement on Thursday.
US users appear to have little concern over the threat of Chinese access to their personal data. During TikTok’s brief shutdown in January, Americans quickly pivoted to Chinese social media app RedNote.
A survey of 1,300 TikTok users last summer found that 41% would be somewhat or very upset if the app was banned, according to Numerator. That number grew to 57% for Gen Z TikTok users.
When Trump initially signed an order to extend the timeline to sell the app in January, it gave TikTok a deadline of April 5.
Several bidders had expressed interest in buying the social media giant ahead of the April deadline, including Amazon; Perplexity AI; Steven Mnuchin, Trump’s treasury secretary during his first term; and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian alongside billionaire Frank McCourt.
But hopes of a deal were squashed as Trump levied stiff tariffs on Chinese imports, heating up tensions between the two nations.
He gave the app another 90 day extension, which was due to expire on Thursday.
