President Donald Trump has given TikTok’s parent company more time to comply with a federal law requiring it to cut ties with China. ByteDance, the China-based owner of TikTok, now has an extra 90 days to find an American buyer. Without a deal, TikTok was originally set to go dark in January 2025.
Trump has already extended the deadline twice—once in January, and again in April. This latest extension moves the cutoff to September. “President Trump does not want TikTok to go dark,” said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday.
Leavitt said the administration is focused on finalizing the deal during the extension period. “The American people can continue to use TikTok with the assurance that their data is safe and secure,” she added. But concerns over national security remain at the heart of the issue.
The battle over TikTok has been brewing for years. Trump first tried to ban the app via executive order during his first term, but courts blocked the move. In 2024, bipartisan support led Congress to pass a law mandating the sale.
President Joe Biden signed the law in April. Trump later issued an executive order directing the Justice Department not to enforce the law until June 19. Now, with the new extension, ByteDance has until September to comply.
National security has remained the central concern. U.S. lawmakers and intelligence officials worry the Chinese Communist Party could access Americans’ personal data through the app. More than 170 million Americans currently use TikTok.
In a landmark ruling, the Supreme Court upheld the law earlier this year. The court said Congress had the right to act on well-supported concerns about foreign data collection. TikTok’s massive reach made the risks too significant to ignore.
The court also addressed free speech concerns raised by creators. But justices said the law targets ownership, not expression. “It is not clear that the Act itself directly regulates protected expressive activity,” the court wrote.
For now, TikTok lives on. But unless a sale is completed by September, the popular platform may face an uncertain future in the U.S. Once again, the clock is ticking.