TikTok to officially shutdown in the US
President-elect Donald Trump said in a phone interview with NBC News’ Meet the Press moderator Kristen Welker on Saturday that he will "most likely" grant TikTok a 90-day extension to avoid a potential U.S. ban after taking office on Monday.
Trump explained that while he hasn’t reached a final decision, he is strongly considering extending the Sunday deadline for TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to sell the platform to a non-Chinese buyer.
"I think that’s certainly an option we’re looking at," Trump said during the interview. "The 90-day extension is something that will most likely happen because it’s the right thing to do. We need to carefully evaluate this—it’s a big issue."
He added, "If I decide to move forward, I’ll probably announce it on Monday."
The bipartisan law passed last year permits a one-time 90-day extension under certain conditions. However, an extension announced Monday might not prevent the app from temporarily going dark since the current compliance deadline falls on Sunday.
The future of TikTok has become a focal point in the final days of the Biden administration, with millions of U.S. users anxiously awaiting a resolution. The Biden administration has stated it does not plan to enforce the law and has deferred responsibility to the incoming Trump administration. However, TikTok announced Friday that it plans to "go dark" Sunday without further clarity regarding potential legal implications, including those affecting third-party service providers.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre dismissed TikTok’s announcement as "a stunt" in a Saturday statement.
"We’ve seen TikTok’s latest statement, and it’s a stunt," Jean-Pierre said. "There is no reason for TikTok or other companies to take such actions before the Trump administration assumes office on Monday. Our position has been clear: implementation of this law will be handled by the next administration."
President Joe Biden signed the law in April, requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok’s U.S. operations or face a nationwide ban. The law allows for a 90-day extension if the president certifies to Congress that there is a clear path to divestiture, significant progress toward a sale, and binding legal agreements enabling the sale within the extension period. No such agreements have been made public, and any buyer would likely need to pay tens of billions of dollars for TikTok’s U.S. operations.
Trump did not confirm whether there has been recent progress toward securing a buyer.
Trump’s willingness to grant TikTok an extension marks a sharp departure from his first-term stance when he signed executive orders to ban TikTok and the Chinese messaging app WeChat. Those efforts were blocked by the courts. His change in position reportedly followed a meeting with one of TikTok’s American investors last year.
Lawmakers advocating for a sale or ban argue that ByteDance’s ties to the Chinese government present security risks. They highlight concerns about Beijing’s potential influence over a major media platform and the app’s collection of personal data from U.S. citizens.