Trump extends TikTok reprieve as deal nears
President Trump is holding off enforcement of a nationwide ban on TikTok until mid-December according to an executive order issued on Tuesday. It’s the fourth time that Trump has delayed enforcement of a law banning the social media app in the United States, and it comes just as U.S. officials say they’ve reached a framework for a deal with China over control of the short-form video platform.
TikTok dominates the market when it comes to social media video apps. According to surveys from the Pew Research Center, roughly one in three Americans use the app, and about half of adult users say they regularly get their news there.
The company’s Chinese ownership has made it a target for U.S. politicians for years. In 2024, Congress passed a law banning the app with bipartisan support. The law said that TikTok would be banned in the U.S. within a year unless it was transferred to a U.S.-owned entity. Lawmakers said they had concerns that the data collected by the app could be used to spy on Americans, and so the legislation was designed to compel TikTok’s Beijing-based owner, ByteDance, to sell off the U.S. version of the app to American owners.
The law banning TikTok went into effect on the eve of Trump’s inauguration in January. The app briefly went dark but Trump issued an executive order pausing enforcement of the ban for 90 days in order to give time for negotiations. While legally questionable, Trump has since extended that limit several times, and the latest executive order issued provides for another 90-day extension.
The extension comes just as it appears China and the U.S. may finally have a deal on TikTok’s fate. On Monday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced they had a “framework” for a deal with China. Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping are expected to speak on Friday to complete the deal, he said.
As he left the White House for a state visit to the United Kingdom, Trump told reporters about the potential agreement, “We’ll be announcing that we have a group of very big companies that want to buy it.”
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