Trump Just Delayed the TikTok Ban (Again)
Good news for TikTok fans: the ban will not be lifted on Saturday.
On Friday, President Trump announced on Truth Social his intention to sign an executive order that would “keep TikTok running for an additional 75 days.” That gives the government and TikTok until June 18 to find a buyer or drop the bank another time.
This is the second time Trump has delayed the so-called TikTok ban, formally known as the Protecting Americans from Controlled Foreign Apps Act. The law required TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to find a buyer in the US or face a complete ban in the country. ByteDance was not selling and so the app went dark in the US shortly before the deadline. TikTok resumed its services a day after Trump assured that the company would not face any consequences for doing so.
In fact, on the first day of his second term, Trump signed an executive order delaying the ban for 75 days. Since then, various companies , including Amazon, Oracle and even Mr. Beast, discussed the possibility of purchasing TikTok in accordance with the law. But because no company had struck a formal deal with ByteDance, the company faced an April 5 deadline that would have been banned again without Trump’s extension.
To be clear, it is not clear that Trump has the legal authority to delay the ban at all. The law was passed by Congress, signed by President Biden, and then confirmed by the Supreme Court. Presidents generally cannot ignore other branches of government and ignore laws they don’t like. But Trump’s DOJ doesn’t enforce the law, so here we are.
In his statement, Trump said his administration was working with China (home of TikTok’s parent company ByteDance) in good faith, acknowledging that the country was unhappy with Trump’s “retaliatory tariffs.” The Trump administration’s unexpectedly extreme tariffs sent shockwaves through the global economy, prompting reciprocal tariffs from countries around the world, including China. It is unclear how the current tariff situation will affect TikTok’s negotiations in the future.