TikTok’s social video sharing platform could get yet another lifeline to continue operating in the US, courtesy of President Trump.
The president on Friday told reporters he may further delay enforcement of a US law that requires the popular Chinese-owned platform’s parent company, ByteDance, to divest most of TikTok’s assets to a US owner or an owner subject to the laws of a US ally.
Former President Joe Biden signed the law in April 2024, and it was set to go into effect in January.
TikTok, which boasts more than 170 million US users, has been under pressure to divest over the past year and a half, due to national security concerns.
However, in an executive order amended three times since taking office for a second term, President Trump delayed its enforcement to allow TikTok to negotiate a sale with prospective buyers.
“We’re going to watch the security concerns,” Trump told reporters on Friday. “We have buyers — American buyers,” he said, adding that in order to work out the complicated sale, the US would need to “extend a little bit longer.”
According to multiple news reports, the president reiterated prior claims that he made in June, saying “very substantial American buyers” were involved in potentially acquiring the company.
The president said he had not talked with Chinese President Xi Jinping about a prospective TikTok sale but would “at the right time,” according to reports.
The Information reported in July that TikTok was developing a new US version of the social media app in the hopes that a different version could avoid a nationwide ban or forced sale. Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the president launched a White House TikTok account.
Various investors have expressed interest in buying the app, which was recently valued at $50 billion, including Oracle (ORCL) co-founder Larry Ellison, Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN), Perplexity AI (PEAI.PVT), Blackstone (BX), and a group of investors led by former LA Dodgers owner Frank McCourt.
In a ruling in January, the US Supreme Court sided with Congress over TikTok in a challenge to the ban, holding that Congress did in fact have authority to enact the law on national security grounds.
US intelligence officials expressed concern that the Chinese Communist Party could use Americans’ data against them and use TikTok’s algorithm to gain backdoor access to swaths of information on US citizens, and lawmakers reiterated that worry as a reason for the bipartisan legislation.
The law requires a “qualified divestiture” of TikTok, which means that Chinese control of the company and the algorithm that powers its app cannot exceed 20%. It also allows the president to determine whether that “qualified divestiture” threshold has been met.
