Trump grants TikTok third 90-day extension to finalize U.S. deal

President Donald Trump will issue a fresh 90-day extension this week allowing TikTok more time to secure a non-Chinese buyer, the White House said Tuesday — the third time the U.S. leader has delayed a ban on the widely used video-sharing platform.

A federal law requiring TikTok’s sale or ban — on national security grounds — was set to take effect the day before Trump’s second inauguration in January.

“President Trump will sign an additional Executive Order this week to keep TikTok up and running. As he has said many times, President Trump does not want TikTok to go dark,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.

“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,” she added.

Trump, who leaned heavily on social media during his 2024 re-election campaign, has publicly expressed support for the app in recent months.

“I have a little warm spot in my heart for TikTok,” Trump said in an NBC News interview in early May. “If it needs an extension, I would be willing to give it an extension.”

Digital Cold War?

Trump previously said a group of buyers was ready to pay TikTok parent company ByteDance “a lot of money” for the U.S. operations of the app, which boasts tens of millions of American users.

He has repeatedly minimized concerns about the platform’s future, saying he remains confident a buyer will emerge.

“The president is just not motivated to do anything about TikTok,” said independent analyst Rob Enderle. “Unless they get on his bad side, TikTok is probably going to be in pretty good shape.”

Once a vocal supporter of banning or forcing a divestment of TikTok, Trump reversed course and pledged to protect the app after concluding it helped him win over younger voters in the 2024 election.

The ban, driven by national security concerns and fears of Chinese government influence, officially took effect on Jan. 19 — one day before Trump was sworn in for his second term — with no deal in place.

“TikTok has become a symbol of the US-China tech rivalry; a flashpoint in the new Cold War for digital control,” said Shweta Singh, assistant professor of information systems at Warwick Business School in Britain.

Trump first delayed enforcement with a 75-day reprieve in January. A second extension moved the deadline to June 19.

Tariff Turmoil

In April, Trump suggested a deal might already be in place had it not been for a wider dispute with Beijing over tariffs.

ByteDance has acknowledged ongoing negotiations with the U.S. government, noting that “key matters” remain unresolved and that any agreement would be “subject to approval under Chinese law.”

Reportedly, one proposed structure would involve existing U.S. investors in ByteDance rolling their stakes into a newly formed independent global TikTok entity. New American backers — including Oracle and private equity giant Blackstone — would further dilute ByteDance’s ownership.

Much of TikTok’s U.S. data operations already run on Oracle servers. Oracle chairman Larry Ellison is a known Trump supporter.

Still, questions remain — especially over the fate of the app’s valuable recommendation algorithm.

“TikTok without its algorithm is like Harry Potter without his wand — it’s simply not as powerful,” said Kelsey Chickering, principal analyst at Forrester.

Meanwhile, TikTok appears to be operating normally.

On Monday, the platform launched “Symphony,” a new suite of generative AI tools designed to help advertisers quickly transform text or images into video content.