News April 04, 2025
President Trump Extends TikTok ‘Sell or Be Banned’ Deadline by 75 Days
China-based ByteDance was up against an April 5 deadline to sell its U.S. TikTok operations or face having the wildly popular video-sharing app outlawed in America. The president said a deal on a sale nears.
Key Takeaways
• Reprieve: President Donald Trump extended TikTok’s U.S. operational deadline by 75 days.
• The Law: Citing national security concerns, a Biden-era law requires that Beijing-based ByteDance must divest its U.S. TikTok operations or be banned.
• In the Works: Trump said there’s been progress on making a deal but more time is needed. Multiple companies are reportedly interested in TikTok.
TikTok isn’t going anywhere yet.
On Friday, April 4, President Donald Trump said he’s signing an executive order that allows TikTok, the incredibly popular video creation-and-sharing app, to keep operating in the United States for at least another 75 days.
Under a previous Trump order, China-based TikTok owner ByteDance had until April 5 to sell its U.S. operations to an American buyer. Trump said there’s been progress toward a viable sale, but more time is needed.
“The Deal requires more work to ensure all necessary approvals are signed,” Trump said on social network Truth Social. “We do not want TikTok to ‘go dark.’ We look forward to working with TikTok and China to close the Deal.”
Citing national security concerns tied to the app, former President Joe Biden signed into law last year a requirement that ByteDance carry out a “qualified divestiture” of its U.S. TikTok operations. The law, supported by both Republicans and Democrats, gave ByteDance until Jan. 19, 2025, to sell the platform or be banned in the U.S.
While TikTok was unavailable for a matter of hours around Jan. 19, Trump signed an order that extended the “sell-or-be-banned” deadline upon taking office Jan. 20. The order granted ByteDance 75 days to make a deal, taking the sell date to April 5 – a deadline he again extended by 75 days on April 4.
A variety of suitors have reportedly expressed interest in purchasing TikTok, including Amazon, Oracle, AppLovin, Andreessen Horowitz, Blackstone and other private capital firms. China’s government would have to approve a deal.
The potential for TikTok to be banned in the United States caused concern among some marketers in the promotional products industry, who like creatives in other industries have relied on the app to learn about and tap into trends, bolster the reach of their brands, engage with clients, attract prospects and even sell directly, in instances. Promo marketers breathed sighs of relief when Trump first granted the ban extension, and have continued to use the app for business-building purposes.
TikTok reportedly boasts 170 million users in the U.S. “Frankly, we have no choice,” Trump said back in January of plans to keep TikTok running in the U.S.: “We have to save it.”