Congress passes TikTok sell-or-ban bill. What’s next for the app?
The future of TikTok remains unknown as a $95 billion foreign aid package restricting the app was passed by Congress.
President Donald Trump is extending the deadline for American investors to acquire a stake in TikTok, saying in a social media post Friday that he is signing an executive order authorizing the app to keep operating for another 75 days.
“My Administration has been working very hard on a Deal to SAVE TIKTOK, and we have made tremendous progress,” Trump wrote. “The Deal requires more work to ensure all necessary approvals are signed.”
TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, faced an April 5 deadline to sell its stake in the app or else be banned in the U.S. after Trump extended an earlier January deadline that was set by Congress last year. Lawmakers have sought to find a non-Chinese buyer for the app over national security concerns.
TikTok briefly went dark in mid-January because of a 2024 U.S. law passed amid concerns that Chinese authorities could spy on and spread propaganda to the social media platform’s 170 million American users who come from across the political spectrum.
Trump had also once criticized TikTok and tried to ban it during his first administration. But the Republican president who boasts of winning back the White House last November with the support of young voters who use TikTok has since embraced the company.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew attended Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, the same day that the second term president signed an executive order halting enforcement of the TikTok ban in the U.S.. Vice President JD Vance and senior aides have since been working to organize U.S. investors to buy a stake in the app, with private equity giant Blackstone and software company Oracle those interested, according to multiple media reports.
Chinese President Xi Jinping must approve the sale of TikTok, and Beijing has indicated that it would be open to a deal as part of negotiations with the White House on tariffs and other issues.
“We hope to continue working in Good Faith with China,” Trump wrote Friday, adding: “We do not want TikTok to “go dark.” We look forward to working with TikTok and China to close the Deal. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
TikTok is hugely popular in the United States among teens and adults who occupy the political left, center and right and who use it to watch and share short videos and news.