President Donald Trump has granted a 75-day extension allowing TikTok to continue operating in the United States, offering a temporary lifeline to the popular video-sharing platform amid ongoing negotiations over its future.
The extension delays the enforcement of a law passed by Congress requiring TikTok to either divest its U.S. operations from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, or face a nationwide ban. The deadline, originally set to expire on Saturday, follows an earlier extension issued in January.
“We do not want TikTok to ‘go dark’. We look forward to working with TikTok and China to close the Deal,” President Trump posted on his social media platform, Truth Social, on Friday. The president emphasized that while progress has been made, the agreement requires additional work and approvals.
TikTok, which boasts 170 million users in the United States, briefly went offline for several hours earlier this year as it prepared to comply with the legislation. The platform’s shutdown was narrowly avoided following President Trump’s first extension, and the latest move buys more time for a resolution.
“The Deal requires more work to ensure all necessary approvals are signed,” President Trump stated, suggesting that negotiations are advancing but not yet complete. He revealed that his administration has been in contact with four separate groups interested in acquiring TikTok’s U.S. assets, though he did not identify them.
National security concerns have been central to the administration’s push for a sale. Lawmakers fear that ByteDance, due to its ties to China, could be compelled to hand over American user data to the Chinese government an allegation both ByteDance and TikTok deny.
President Trump’s decision reflects a balancing act between addressing security fears and preserving access to a platform that has become a cornerstone of digital culture for millions of Americans. With the clock now reset, stakeholders on all sides have just over two months to reach a deal that satisfies U.S. regulations and ensures TikTok’s continued presence in the American market.
