Photo Credit: Jon Tyson
Trump plans to sign yet another executive order this week, granting TikTok more time to comply with the federal law requiring its change in ownership.
President Trump plans to once again extend the deadline by which TikTok must divest from its Chinese parent, ByteDance, or face a federal ban in the United States. It will be the third reprieve granted to the company this year.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday that Trump would sign an executive order this week granting TikTok 90 more days—or until mid September—to find a US-based owner. The federal law requiring TikTok to change its ownership structure is aimed at resolving national security concerns surrounding the platform’s Beijing-based parent company. Currently, TikTok’s deadline is Thursday until Trump signs another executive order.
“As he has said many times, President Trump does not want TikTok to go dark,” said Leavitt.
It’s the most recent instance of the president declining to enforce the law, which the Supreme Court upheld in January after Congress passed it with broad bipartisan support last year. Trump, who has issued similar extensions for TikTok in January and again in April, is essentially granting TikTok a lifeline after the app’s future in the US appeared grim.
Interestingly, Trump wanted to ban TikTok during his first term, but has since flipped his stance on the subject since he believes the platform was instrumental to his re-election in November. The shift is also partially credited to one of his donors having a significant stake in ByteDance.
But the continued extensions have raised concerns among some lawmakers, who urge the president to either clarify his plans for TikTok or force it to stop operating in the US. Numerous lawmakers remain concerned that the platform could grant sensitive US user data to its Beijing parent and the wider Chinese government, such as location information or using content recommendations to sway public opinion and spread misinformation.
“This is just a wild situation that we’re in—the president has essentially nullified a law because he doesn’t like it,” said Alan Rozenshtein, former national security adviser to the Justice Department and an associate professor at the University of Minnesota Law School. “What’s crazier is the US companies are going along with it. Since they’ve gone along with it so far, they may as well keep going along with it.”
A deal supposedly orchestrated by Vice President JD Vance seemed imminent back in April, which would have turned TikTok into a new company with American investors and reduced the ownership stakes of Chinese investors. But experts say this deal would not have complied with the law. Further, any talks of a deal seemingly fell apart over Trump’s then-impending tariffs, which have deteriorated trade talks with China.
“The strongest way for us to negotiate would be to let it go dark and see if China comes to the table,” said Representative John Moolenaar, who heads a House committee focused on China. A separate group of Democratic lawmakers also wrote a letter to Trump this month asking for clarity on his plans for TikTok.
Meanwhile, TikTok has been hard at work to show advertisers and the wider American public that it’s all business as usual. Last month, the company promoted its ad tools in a pitch to marketers in New York, hosted by comedian Hasan Minhaj. TikTok has also been presenting to advertisers this week on the French Riviera at the Cannes Lions advertising festival.
