Shortly after Monday's inauguration ceremony, President Donald Trump signed an executive order extending the deadline for ByteDance to sell TikTok's US operations, preventing the app from being shut down. for additional 75 days,
The executive order directs the US Attorney General to refrain from implementing legislation that would ban the app and require companies like Apple and Google to remove it from their app stores. TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Days before the January 19 deadline, Trump suggested he would “save” the app after formally taking office. In an interview with Kristen Welker on NBC News on SaturdayTrump said he would give ByteDance more time to find a buyer, but did not say how he planned to do so. “We have to look at it carefully. This is a huge situation,” he said.
In a truth social post on SundayTrump confirmed that the extension would be made through an executive order that would allow his administration to negotiate a deal with ByteDance. In his post, Trump said he would pursue a 50 percent joint venture agreement with ByteDance, preferably with a US entity.
“By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands and allow [stay] Up,” Trump wrote. “Without US approval, there is no TikTok. With our approval, it is worth hundreds of billions of dollars—perhaps trillions of dollars.”
ByteDance and TikTok have not yet responded publicly to Trump's proposal. At Monday's signing ceremony, Trump said he thought TikTok CEO Shaw Zi Chew would “really like it.” Trump said that private companies could be involved in financing the negotiations. “I think you have a lot of people who would be interested in TikTok as a partner for the United States,” he said.
The executive order does not mention disinvestment itself, but rather says that the 75-day grace period is for “an opportunity to determine the appropriate course to proceed in an orderly manner.”
The race to keep TikTok online comes after the company suffered a devastating blow US Supreme CourtOn Friday, the court upheld a law forcing the sale of TikTok to a US owner to prevent a nationwide ban. The decision came just two days before the law came into effect.
Shortly before midnight Saturday, TikTok users received a notification alerting them that the app is no longer available to US users as a result of the sell-or-ban law. Around the same time that Apple and Google removed the app from their app stores, other ByteDance-owned apps, including CapCut, Lemon8, and Marvel Snap, were also removed. TikTok was down for about 15 hours before the company issued a statement announcing its return.
“In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service. We thank President Trump for providing needed clarity and assurances to our service providers that they will not face any penalties for providing TikTok to more than 170 million Americans and allowing more than 7 million small businesses to thrive, ” the company said. sunday Evening.
The disinvestment law has faced outrage from both sides of the aisle. “Meetings are being held in Washington DC to overturn this TikTok ban,” Soulja Boy wrote. Post on X over the weekend. The rap artist was in town to perform at a crypto industry inaugural party.
Different types of American financiers Considered purchasing the appThat includes former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt and former Trump Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. McCourt's Project Liberty made a formal bid After the Supreme Court announced its decision. Elon Musk's name also came up in the deal talks with the Chinese government. according to bloomberg,
On Monday, Trump suggested he could impose retaliatory tariffs against China if the Chinese government refuses to negotiate a deal with TikTok that addresses the U.S. government's national security concerns. He said, “I'm not saying I would do that, but you certainly could.”