By Michaela Gordoni
Following a new order from President Trump, the law requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok to a non-Chinese company will be delayed until mid-June.
“My Administration has been working very hard on a Deal to SAVE TIKTOK, and we have made tremendous progress,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Friday. “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.”
The delay comes despite Vice President JD Vance announcing in an interview Thursday that a deal making the app legal would be publicized on Saturday. According to Variety, financial markets are suffering due to Trump’s plan to create steep tariffs for many countries, with a 34% tariff on China.
The app, which was determined to be a national security threat, had a previous sell-or-be-banned deadline of April 5 that was extended from its original Jan. 19 deadline, as reported by The Guardian.
ByteDance clarified on its side Friday that discussions have been underway, but no agreement has been met “regarding a potential solution for TikTok U.S.”
“There are key matters to be resolved,” ByteDance said. “Any agreement will be subject to approval under Chinese law.”
Reuters reported that a deal was all set to go into effect before Trump raised tariffs. The deal was “largely finalized” Wednesday, but China refused to sign off due to the new tariffs.
The news comes after ByteDance previously said selling the app is “simply not possible: not commercially, not technologically, not legally.”
“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.!),” Trump said on Truth.
“This proves that Tariffs are the most powerful Economic tool, and very important to our National Security!” he continued. “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!”
Related: Constitutional Law Expert Calls TikTok Ban ‘Extremely Harmful’ First Amendment
Potential buyers of the app include Oracle, Blackrock, Amazon, Walmart, billionaire Frank McCourt, a cryptocurrency foundation and OnlyFans’ founder.
Trump technically does not have the authority to postpone the law again.
Carl Tobias, professor at the University of Richmond School of Law explained, “Congress could do something, the GOP could lean on Trump and say, ‘get this done, stop this lawless behavior. The first extension was not right, it violated what Congress intended, which was to protect national security. And this just compounds that whole issue.”
There is no news that Congress has responded yet, but it’s possible it could interfere before the June 18 deadline.
For now, though, this is all part of Trump’s plan, says Emarketer principal analyst Jeremy Goldman.
“Drag out the clock, extract leverage, keep the drama simmering, and above all, make sure TikTok stays just visible enough to keep the dealmaking sharks circling,” he says of Trump’s plan. “As long as TikTok is in limbo, Trump can keep using it as a bargaining chip in his larger geopolitical trade saga with China.”
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