Will Trump’s 90-Day Extension Save TikTok from a U.S. Ban?

President Donald Trump is expected to issue an executive order this week granting TikTok an additional 90 days to secure a new U.S. owner, temporarily delaying enforcement of a law that mandates its parent company, ByteDance, to divest from its American operations.

This new extension pushes the deadline to mid-September. It’s the third time Trump has delayed the ban. Originally, TikTok was supposed to cut ties with ByteDance by January 19, but that deadline passed without a sale. Trump then gave two more extensions, first to April 5 and then to June 19. Now, the clock is ticking once again.

In a statement, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “President Trump does not want TikTok to go dark.” She added that during the 90 days, the government will work hard to make sure a deal goes through, and that Americans can keep using the app without worries about their private data being misused.

This situation dates back to a law passed in April 2024, known as the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act. The law gave ByteDance 270 days to sell TikTok to an American company. It allowed for only one 90-day extension, but Trump has exceeded that limit by using executive orders, which are special actions a president can take without needing Congress to vote.

Several companies have shown interest in buying TikTok. These include:

• Amazon, the online shopping giant
• AppLovin, a mobile tech and advertising company
• Perplexity, a growing AI startup

There’s also talk that a group of U.S. investors might team up to buy TikTok together. In that case, ByteDance might still own a small piece of the company, but it wouldn’t be in control anymore. Trump has picked Vice President JD Vance to lead the discussions and try to strike a deal.

This isn’t the first time Trump has tried to ban TikTok. Back in 2020, while he was president, he signed an order to block the app in U.S. app stores. That move was halted by the courts, but concerns about TikTok’s ties to China have never really subsided.

Interestingly, Trump’s views on TikTok seem to have changed. During his 2024 campaign, he said he wanted to “rescue” TikTok instead of banning it completely. In a TV interview this May, he even admitted he has a “warm spot” for the app.

So, for now, TikTok lives on in the U.S., but everything depends on what happens before the new September deadline.