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President-elect Donald Trump said he would “most likely” extend the deadline for TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance to divest the video app, which faces a nationwide ban set to take effect on Sunday.
Trump said in an interview with NBC News that he was considering extending the deadline by 90 days. His comments came a day after TikTok warned that its 170 million users would face imminent consequences after the Supreme Court on Friday upheld a “divest or ban” law passed by Congress last year to address national security concerns related to China. power failure.
“A 90-day extension is the most likely thing to get done because it’s appropriate,” Trump said. “We have to look at it carefully. It’s a very big situation. . . . If I decide to do it, I’ll probably do it in announced on Monday.
On Friday, Trump said he had spoken with President Xi Jinping and discussed TikTok with the Chinese leader. Chinese state media said the two leaders had spoken but did not specify whether TikTok was part of the conversation.
The Biden administration said Friday it would leave decisions about enforcement of the law, which takes effect at midnight ET on Saturday, to the incoming Trump administration.
That means companies that provide video platforms — including Apple, Google and Oracle — must decide between the midnight deadline and Trump’s inauguration on Monday whether to risk violating the law.
TikTok said the Biden administration’s statement “fails to provide necessary clarity and assurance to service providers who are integral to maintaining TikTok’s service to more than 170 million Americans.”
It also warned that the video app would “shut down” on January 19 unless the Biden administration “immediately provides a clear statement to ensure compliance with the demands of the most critical service providers.”
Last March, Congress passed a law in an overwhelming bipartisan vote requiring ByteDance to divest TikTok to avoid a nationwide ban on the app.
Lawmakers and U.S. security officials believe China’s ownership of the app poses a national security risk because it could be used by the Chinese Communist Party for espionage and disinformation. TikTok denies that the Chinese government has any influence over the app.
During Trump’s first term, he issued an executive order banning TikTok from operating in the United States, but it was blocked by the court at the last minute. In early 2024, he publicly opposed congressional divestment or ban measures on the grounds that it would help Facebook, which banned him from its social media platform for two years.
Trump has appointed several China hawks who oppose China’s ownership of TikTok to the administration, including former Green Beret and Florida congressman Mike Waltz, who will serve as national security adviser.
Earlier this week, Walz said the incoming administration would take “steps to prevent TikTok from getting into trouble” and said the legislation would allow for an extension as long as a “workable deal” is on the table.
After TikTok issued its statement on Friday, Rush Doshi, a former senior China official in the Biden administration, wrote on X that the company had only itself to blame.
“TikTok has 268 days to sell itself so it’s not run by China. That solves everything. But they didn’t even try. China won’t let them,” Dorsey said.
“Now, with time running out, they want Biden to ignore the bipartisan law that the U.S. Supreme Court upheld 9-0. If they shut down, the blame will be on them.
