US President Donald Trump has extended for the third time the deadline for TikTok to separate from Chinese company ByteDance to avoid a ban in the country. As confirmed by White House press secretary Caroline Levitt, the new order will extend the deadline by another 90 days - until mid-September. This is reported by The Verge.
According to Levitt, the administration is using this time to "ensure a deal is made" and guarantee the security of American users' data.
The president’s decision formally allows companies like Oracle, Apple, and Google to avoid fines for supporting TikTok in the U.S. But the legal basis for such an extension remains questionable: the law banning apps linked to hostile states does not provide for such exceptions.
A previous deal between ByteDance and a consortium led by Oracle fell through after Trump raised tariffs on Chinese goods. It is currently unclear whether talks to sell TikTok will resume, or whether China will agree to hand over the service's core asset, its recommendation algorithm.
Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner said that “the whole deal makes no sense if the algorithm remains under Beijing’s control.” Several other senators also warned that further delays put TikTok’s American partners in legal jeopardy.
Recall that the law to block or separate TikTok from the Chinese ByteDance was signed by former US President Joe Biden. On January 19, 2025, the application disappeared from the American App Store and Google Play, which caused the migration of American users to other Chinese applications, such as Xiaohongshu. President Donald Trump immediately after taking office signed an executive order that gave TikTok 75 days to find a solution.