Trump says he signed an executive order to keep TikTok running for 75 more days, as “the deal requires more work to ensure all necessary approvals are signed”
It was already dubious as hell that Trump had just decreed that TikTok could carry on, but this deadline is explicitly in legislation with no mechanism for the President to extend it. — He's just unilaterally overruling it. … @lazear : So facebook is definetly gonna sue to force the law to proceed, aren't they? [embedded post] Eli Sananes / @xhangover : Ever get the sense that Trump just doesn't know what the fuck he's doing?? @ecowen : Trump has to be certain the right fascist billionaire buys it. Can't have any old billionaire buying TikTok & risk losing control of messaging. His whole plan depends on controlling the information ecosystem to create an alternative reality for Americans. Thankfully legacy media is already on board. … Casey Newton / @caseynewton : Periodic reminder that the law makes no provision for the president to just extend the deadline as many times as he wants [embedded post] Truth Social: Donald J. Trump / @realDonaldTrump@truthsocial.com : My Administration has been working very hard on a Deal to SAVE TIKTOK, and we have made tremendous progress. The Deal requires more work to ensure all necessary approvals are signed, which is why I am signing an Executive Order to keep TikTok up and running for an additional 75 days. … X: @truthtrumpposts : My Administration has been working very hard on a Deal to SAVE TIKTOK, and we have made tremendous progress. The Deal requires more work to ensure all necessary approvals are signed, which is why I am signing an Executive Order to keep TikTok up and running for an additional 75 days. Dan Primack / @danprimack : Interesting to see so many people complaining today that Trump's TikTok ban extension is illegal. The first one was also illegal, as we pointed out, but mostly crickets. Guess that's what a stock market crash will do for ya. Karoline Leavitt / @presssec : STATEMENT FROM PRESIDENT TRUMP ON TIKTOK: [image] Peter Kafka / @pkafka : It's *still* weird that we're in a world where pointing out that the President ignored a law sounds makes you sound like Poindexter. Another way of putting it: When Trump ignored the TikTok law, and Congress didn't say boo, it set the stage for... (points to everything) Dan Primack / @danprimack : If there isn't an agreement between ByteDance and the buyer, even a prelim one, this is another illegal extension Alex Weprin / @alexweprin : This may be first confirmation from ByteDance that they are willing to sell? Hadas Gold / @hadas_gold : NEW from TikTok owner ByteDance: “ByteDance has been in discussion with the U.S. Government regarding a potential solution for TikTok U.S. An agreement has not been executed. There are key matters to be resolved. Any agreement will be subject to approval under Chinese law.” Hadas Gold / @hadas_gold : ByteDance has barely commented on a potential TikTok deal, if at all. So this is notable Rakesh Agrawal / @rakeshsfnyc : Based on no legal authority. Peter Kafka / @pkafka : If you don't like a law (say it with me now: passed by Congress, signed by the President, upheld by the Supreme Court) you just pretend it doesn't exist. Dan Primack / @danprimack : tldr: Trump couldn't make a TikTok deal in time. So he's going to extend the ban again, which he doesn't have the legal right to do. Gotta wonder what, if anything, @SenTomCotton, will do. Brian Stelter / @brianstelter : Trump says “we have made tremendous progress” re: TikTok but “the Deal requires more work to ensure all necessary approvals are signed, which is why I am signing an Executive Order to keep TikTok up and running for an additional 75 days.” Tero Kuittinen / @teroterotero : Remarkable. He caved in again. Josh Wingrove / @josh_wingrove : Trump says he'll extend the deadline on TikTok divestiture / shuttering by 75 days. [image] Hadas Gold / @hadas_gold : Just yesterday VP Vance said a deal will “come out before the deadline, .... I think that we're in a good place. We're going to keep on working at it."" Selina Wang / @selinawangtv : Trump is expected to sign an executive order to extend the deadline (tomorrow) for TikTok to be banned or sold off. Sources say there are several investors interested in jumping in to purchase TikTok, including Amazon, Oracle, and Applovin. A source close to the deal also says Selina Wang / @selinawangtv : BREAKING: Walmart is actively considering joining a group of investors to buy TikTok, sources close to the deal tell me, who say Walmart's interest was triggered by Amazon throwing their hat into the ring. Walmart was interested in buying TikTok back in 2020. @ABC LinkedIn: Sladjan Milenkovic : Looks like TikTok gets another lifeline. Although not explicitly mentioned here, the most intriguing decisions about the future of the app's algorithm ownership remain to be clarified. … Forums: r/unusual_whales : Trump May Have Killed Your Portfolio Gains, But For Now He Has SAVED TikTok r/Sino : Trump claimed China panicked over his tariffs on social media. In reality? He just signed an extension for TikTok, after using it as an example for a deal a day after his liberation day. … r/StockMarket : Trump extends TikTok deadline for the second time r/politics : Trump extends TikTok deadline for the second time r/technology : Trump extends TikTok deadline for the second time BeauHD / Slashdot : Trump Extends TikTok Deadline For the Second Time See also Mediagazer
Context & Ripple Effects
This move follows Trump’s January proposal to delay enforcement and pursue a TikTok venture with U.S. ownership, even as the divestiture deadline was set by Congress. The immediate issue is not only whether a buyer can be assembled, but whether an executive order can alter the timing Congress prescribed.
The unresolved approval path became the central constraint: related reporting said a largely finalized U.S. TikTok deal was put on hold after China’s tariff response. The uncertainty persisted into a third deadline extension whose legal basis remained unclear, showing that a buyer process alone did not settle the matter.
First-order effects
- TikTok, ByteDance, and prospective investors gain 75 days of operating and negotiating room, while no executed transaction resolves the statutory divestiture requirement.
- The order creates an immediate enforcement and legal-authority question for Congress, the administration, and companies that must decide whether to treat the statutory deadline or executive direction as controlling.
Second-order effects
- Potential bidders including Amazon, Oracle, Applovin, and Walmart face a longer period of deal uncertainty, making valuation, consortium design, and commitment timing harder while Chinese approval remains necessary.
- Rival social platforms and advertisers must plan around TikTok remaining available without clarity on its ownership or the durability of that availability.
Third-order effects
- If deadline extensions repeatedly substitute for a completed divestiture, U.S. platform-security policy risks shifting from a clear statutory remedy toward discretionary, deal-by-deal enforcement.
- The case may test whether control over a major video platform can be separated from cross-border ownership through negotiated operating arrangements, or whether conflicting U.S. and Chinese approvals make that structure inherently unstable.
The trend: TikTok is becoming a test case for how governments use ownership, enforcement discretion, and market access to govern strategically important digital platforms.