Trump gives TikTok more time to avoid US ban

President Donald Trump is set to give TikTok another 90 days to find a U.S. buyer, delaying a potential ban for the third time. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that Trump will sign an order this week, pushing the deadline to mid-September. The goal is to secure a deal that keeps TikTok running in the U.S. while ensuring user data safety for its 170 million American users.

The law, passed in 2024, requires TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, to sell the app or face a ban due to national security concerns. Trump first delayed the ban in January, after a brief 14-hour outage, and again in April. A deal nearly happened earlier this year, with U.S. companies and investors like Oracle and Project Liberty showing interest, but talks stalled when China backed out after Trump’s tariff plans.

Some lawmakers, like Senator Josh Hawley, want the ban enforced, arguing TikTok could be used for Chinese spying. Others see it as a key part of U.S.-China trade talks. Trump, who once tried to ban TikTok but now has 15 million followers on the app, seems to favor keeping it alive. However, it’s unclear how many extensions he can grant or if a sale will happen, especially since China may block the transfer of TikTok’s algorithm.