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President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Sept. 16 that extends the deadline for Beijing-based ByteDance to divest itself of TikTok’s U.S. assets or face a potential nationwide ban.
The new deadline is set for Dec. 16, 2025. This was the fourth time Trump has delayed enforcement of a law that Congress passed in 2024 requiring ByteDance to divest itself of TikTok’s U.S. operations by January 2025 because of national security concerns.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent earlier announced that a framework had been reached for the sale of the video-sharing app following a meeting with China’s trade negotiators in Madrid.
Trump is expected to speak with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Sept. 19 to finalize the terms.
Trump told reporters on Sept. 16 that a deal has been reached to keep TikTok operating in the United States and that “a group of very big companies” is interested in buying the app. He did not share further details.
It is unclear whether China will retain a stake in the U.S. version of TikTok. Trump said he plans to speak with Xi about that.
Following the Madrid meeting with U.S. officials, Chinese trade negotiator Wang Jingtao told reporters that negotiators have reached a consensus that includes licensing TikTok’s algorithm and other intellectual property rights, suggesting that the United States may not control the algorithm even after acquiring the app.
Bessent told CNBC on Sept. 16 that Trump has made it clear that he will not compromise national security for the sake of a TikTok deal, a stance he said pushed the Chinese government into making a deal.
“President Trump made it clear that he would have been willing to let TikTok go dark, that we were not going to give up national security in favor of the deal,” he said. “So we were able to reach a series of agreements, mostly for things we will not be doing in the future that have no effect on our national security.”
The commercial terms of an agreement between ByteDance and the new investors have “in essence been done since March or April,” Bessent said, but a few details still need to be ironed out.
“This deal wouldn’t be done without proper safeguards for U.S. national security and the interests of our citizens, especially our children,” he said.
ByteDance, the Beijing-based parent company of TikTok, has said that any agreement with Washington will be subject to approval under Chinese law.
TikTok has faced scrutiny amid concerns that the Chinese Communist Party could access U.S. consumer data and the algorithm owned by ByteDance. U.S. officials have raised national security concerns about the app because of ByteDance’s alleged ties to the Chinese regime, which the company has denied.
