As deadline approaches, Trump extends TikTok sell-by date
Republished from Kentucky Lantern
President Donald Trump said Friday he would extend for 75 days Saturday’s deadline for Chinese company ByteDance to sell the short-video platform TikTok to a parent company based outside the Communist country.
A bipartisan law enacted last year requires TikTok to find a non-Chinese parent company or face a ban in the United States, where the social media giant says it has more than 150 million monthly users, by Saturday.
In a post to his platform Truth Social on Friday afternoon, Trump said negotiations have made “tremendous progress” but required more time to close. The post also promoted Trump’s imposition of additional tariffs on China this week.
“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 wrote.
“We hope to continue working in Good Faith with China, who I understand are not very happy about our Reciprocal Tariffs (Necessary for Fair and Balanced Trade between China and the U.S.A.!). This proves that Tariffs are the most powerful Economic tool, and very important to our National Security! We do not want TikTok to ‘go dark.’ We look forward to working with TikTok and China to close the Deal. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
A handful of massive U.S.-based companies – tech company Oracle, private equity firm Blackstone and retailers Amazon and Walmart – have reportedly expressed interest in buying TikTok. Several long-shot bidders have also made offers, according to reports.
The law requiring TikTok’s parent company to sell the app or lose access to the U.S. market received overwhelming bipartisan support in both chambers of Congress last year and President Joe Biden signed it as part of a larger legislative package in April 2024.
The app briefly went dark shortly before Trump’s inauguration, but the president signed an executive order on Jan. 20 directing the U.S. Justice Department to pause until April 5 enforcement of the law banning TikTok.
Last updated 4:53 p.m., Apr. 4, 2025
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