WASHINGTON (Kashmir English): President Donald Trump is set to extend the popular video sharing app sale-or-ban deadline for the third time since taking office this year, suggesting that TikTok will live on for at least another three months in the United States.
“President Trump will sign an additional Executive Order this week to keep TikTok up and running,” Karoline Leavitt, White House Press Secretary, said on Tuesday.
TikTok was supposed to be banned in the country after its Chinese owner, ByteDance, refused to sell it to a US buyer by a January deadline.
Leavitt said the 90-day extension would “ensure this deal is closed so that the American people can continue to use TikTok with the assurance that their data is safe and secure.”
Before Leavitt’s announcement, President Trump told the BBC that he would “probably” extend the TikTok.
“We’ll probably have to get China approval,” Trump said. “I think we’ll get it. I think President Xi will ultimately approve it.”
When pressed if he has the legal basis to extend the deadline, he responded: “We do.”
Trump’s extension is contrary to the will of Congress, which last year passed the sale-or-ban measure. His predecessor, former President Joe Biden, immediately signed the bill into law.
TikTok has 170 million American users
The law was aimed to address concerns that China could use TikTok as a tool for spying and political manipulation. According to the figures, TikTok has 170 million American users.
Trump tried to force TikTok sale to an American buyer in 2020, during his first term in office. But last year, Trump said he liked the platform because he believed it had helped him win the 2024 presidential election.
