Washington, DC [US], August 23 : US President Donald Trump said on Friday (local time) that he was open to a fourth extension of the deadline for when TikTok had to be separated from its Chinese owner, ByteDance, or face a ban in the US, The New York Times reported.
The popular short-form video app has until mid-September to find a new owner under a federal law that requires the company to change its ownership structure to resolve national security concerns.
That's after its deadline was extended first in January, then in April and later in June. The administration has "very substantial American buyers" lined up to acquire the firm, Trump said on Friday, echoing comments that he had made in June. But, he said, a deal, which would require China's approval, may not be reached in time for the deadline next month, as per The New York Times.
Congress approved a US ban on TikTok unless its parent company, ByteDance, sold its controlling stake. But Trump has so far extended the deadline three times during his second term with the next one coming up on Sept. 17.
"I haven't spoken to President Xi about it at the right time, I'll do it," Trump said, referring to China's leader, Xi Jinping. "In the meantime, until the complexity of things works out, we just extend a little bit longer. But we have buyers."
The first extension was through an executive order on Jan. 20, his first day in office, after the platform went dark briefly when a national ban approved by Congress and upheld by the US Supreme Court took effect. The second was in April, when White House officials believed they were nearing a deal to spin off TikTok into a new company with U.S. ownership that fell apart after China backed out following Trump's tariff announcement.
The delays involving the law, which passed with broad bipartisan support and originally called for a sale by January, have raised serious questions about the limits of presidential power and the rule of law in the United States. Some legal experts opined to The New York Times that the actions represent an alarming expansion of presidential authority.
Trump did not indicate who might be interested in buying TikTok, which has 170 million users in the United States. This year, officials in Washington had coalesced around a plan to bring on a group of new US investors that included private equity giants and venture capital firms.
Another extension would clash with some recent comments from Trump administration officials, who have suggested taking a harder line on TikTok. Howard Lutnick, the commerce secretary, said last month that the app would "go dark" if China did not approve a deal for TikTok.
Lawmakers and intelligence officials have argued for years that TikTok poses a national security risk under Chinese ownership, because Beijing could use the app to seek sensitive data on Americans or to spread propaganda to advance its policy goals. TikTok has pushed back, saying it has safeguards in place to prevent such tampering.
Trump made the comments on Friday at a museum run by the White House Historical Association.
https://x.com/WhiteHouse/status/1957937708057211300
Earlier, on August 20, the White House joined TikTok.
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