TikTok is here to stay in the US – at least for another 75 days.
On 4 April, President Donald Trump signed another executive order, extending the deadline for TikTok to find a US-based buyer, or otherwise be banned in the country. He announced the extension on his social platform Truth Social, less than 24 hours before the 5 April deadline.
“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.” TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ahead of signing the order, Trump made it clear that he was confident that a deal would be achieved. On 29 March, he told reporters that “We have a lot of potential buyers. There’s a lot of interest in TikTok. The decision is going to be my decision.” He also said that he’d “like TikTok to remain alive”.
Trump administration officials reportedly met on 2 April to discuss TikTok’s options. That same day, the New York Times reported that Amazon put in a last-minute offer on the platform. Other reported bidders include a consortium led by OnlyFans founder Tim Stokely, an investor group led by software company Oracle, mobile technology company Applovin, private equity firm Blackstone and VC firm Andreessen Horowitz. One option floated by Trump would bring together a group of investors to buy the majority of TikTok to form “TikTok America”, while the algorithm would still be owned and commissioned by Chinese parent company Bytedance.
The elusive TikTok ban has been a long-running saga. On Friday 17 January, the Supreme Court voted to uphold the law that requires TikTok be banned in the US unless it divested from Bytedance by 19 January. On 18 January, the app went dark in the US. A few hours later, it was back, with a message thanking President Trump, who signed an executive order delaying the ban for 75 days, until 5 April. Its fate has been up in the air since. While TikTok’s first disappearance was met with an emotional outcry from creators and users alike, the response this time has been mostly apathetic.
The ban was first floated in 2020, but didn’t gain traction until 2023, when the Biden administration moved to ban the app from government employee devices. In March 2024, the House of Representatives passed a bill that meant that, unless TikTok divested from Bytedance, the platform would be removed from app stores in the US. The bill was passed in April 2024. TikTok’s attempt to overturn the bill was rejected in December 2024.
Despite White House aides’ insistence that Trump’s just-announced ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs were not negotiation tools, the President himself has said that he was open to negotiation. In his 4 April announcement, he made reference to this once again, writing that he understands China is unhappy about the tariffs. “This proves that tariffs are the most powerful economic tool,” he wrote, adding: “We do not want TikTok to ‘go dark.’ We look forward to working with TikTok and China to close the deal.”
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