President Donald Trump on April 4 extended by 75 days the deadline by which TikTok must divest from its Beijing-based parent company or face a ban in the United States.
“My Administration has been working very hard on a Deal to SAVE TIKTOK, and we have made tremendous progress,” Trump wrote. “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 president said he would continue working in “good faith” with China, which has responded to his 54 percent total tariff on its imports into the United States with retaliatory 34 percent tariffs on all U.S. goods imported into China.
Trump said on Thursday that he could potentially use his tariffs as a bargaining chip to get the Chinese regime to approve the sale of TikTok’s U.S.-based operations from its parent company, ByteDance, which several U.S. officials have warned has ties to the Chinese Communist Party.
“You have a situation with TikTok where China will probably say: ‘We’ll approve a deal, but will you do something on the tariffs?’” Trump said. “We could use tariffs in order to get something in return.”
There was a looming April 5 deadline by which TikTok had to reach a deal with a non-Chinese buyer or face a potential ban in the United States. Congress passed legislation last year mandating a divestment of the app’s U.S. operations from the Beijing-based ByteDance, which then-President Joe Biden signed into law.
Several bidders have already lined up, expressing interest in purchasing the short video app’s U.S.-based operations.
Those include Amazon and a consortium led by OnlyFans founder Tim Stokely. Blackstone, a private equity firm, is also discussing joining ByteDance’s non-Chinese shareholders in offering new capital for a bid.
On Thursday, the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on potential buyers for the video app.
While speaking with Fox News on April 3, Vice President JD Vance appeared optimistic that the administration would reach a deal on the sale of TikTok’s U.S.-based operations ahead of the original deadline.
“It'll come out before the deadline,” Vance said. “I think that we’re in a good place. We’re going to keep on working at it.
“We’ve got a couple days to continue working on it, to finalize some things and, of course, we’re going to let the president announce whatever we ultimately decide.”
Vance, like other officials worried about ByteDance’s relationship with the Chinese regime—which the company denies—said the Trump administration has to achieve two goals: to ensure that the app can’t be used to spy on American citizens and that it remains open for those who use it for commerce.
“You also want to give people access to this incredible platform, which, as we know, that’s where a lot of young people get their news. ... And we gotta accomplish both of those things,” Vance said.
