The US President Donald Trump has hinted that he would give the Chinese internet company ByteDance more time to sell up its US operations of the well-known short-form video platform, TikTok.
Trump reaffirmed his desire to postpone the current divestment deadline, which was initially scheduled for June 19. The comments are made in the midst of continuous investigation of TikTok's ownership and impact on US consumers, especially younger ones.
Citing TikTok's assistance in reaching younger voters during the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump had earlier stated that he was amenable to delaying the deadline. In his most recent remarks, he once more acknowledged the app's influence and hinted that any choice that comes up may be influenced by its political significance.
Earlier, President Donald Trump has already twice delayed the proposed TikTok ban, allegedly with the support of his attorney general. Later this month, there is a new divestment deadline that may also be postponed.
The Chinese internet giant acknowledged in April that it has held discussions with the Trump administration to discuss a potential resolution for its US business, despite ByteDance's earlier declaration during President Biden's administration that it had no plans to sell TikTok.
The business added that Chinese officials would need to approve any such acquisition.
TikTok was formally prohibited in the US on January 19, 2025, by the Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which was passed with bipartisan support in 2023 and cited concerns about data privacy and national security. President Trump gave the platform a 75-day extension after he returned to office, first when he took office and again in April.
Trump has been working on a proposal to turn TikTok's American operations into a stand-alone company owned by the US. However, the proposal has since stagnated, especially in light of growing trade tensions associated with Trump's'reciprocal' tariff policy, after China indicated that it would not authorize such a move.
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With ByteDance having failed to find a suitor, the ban went into effect on January 19, one day before Trump's inauguration, and was prompted by national security concerns and Washington's perception that TikTok is under Chinese influence.
In the meantime, TikTok seems to be operating normally.
The "Symphony" suite of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools was unveiled by TikTok on Monday, enabling advertisers to transform text or images into short videos for the site.