Trump Again Delays TikTok Sale Deadline,Citing Preliminary Agreement with China
WASHINGTON – President Trump has issued an executive order extending the deadline for TikTok to divest its U.S.assets for a fourth time, following a preliminary agreement reached with China. The move postpones a potential ban of the popular video-sharing app, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, and comes as negotiations continue over national security concerns.
Originally,Congress had set a deadline of January 19,2020 - the day before TrumpS second term began – for TikTok to find an American buyer. The President has repeatedly delayed enforcement of that deadline, citing ongoing discussions.
During a press briefing Tuesday, Trump indicated he would discuss the TikTok issue during a scheduled phone call with Chinese President xi Jinping on Friday. He stated that multiple companies have expressed interest in acquiring TikTok and that details regarding potential buyers would be forthcoming.
“I hate to see how a value like this is wasted,” Trump said as he departed the White House for a state visit to the United Kingdom, accompanied by First Lady Melania Trump.
The preliminary agreement emerged from a meeting in Madrid on Monday between U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Chinese Vice premier He Lifeng, among other officials. mnuchin told reporters the goal is to transfer tiktok’s U.S. operations into American hands, but declined to elaborate on specifics.
China’s International Trade Representative, Li Chenggang, stated that both sides had reached a “basic consensual framework” to cooperatively address TikTok-related concerns, reduce investment barriers, and promote broader economic and commercial cooperation.
Trump has previously expressed support for TikTok,believing the platform helped him reach younger voters during the 2024 presidential election. Though, the push for a sale or ban stems from concerns about potential security risks associated with the app’s data collection practices.
Experts caution that the prolonged negotiations may yield limited results. Dimitar Gueorguiev, a Professor of Political Science at Syracuse University, noted that TikTok’s once-revolutionary algorithm has “slowly faded” in significance. “The agreement between the United States and China on TikTok may seem an advance, but runs the risk of being a pyrrhic victory,” Gueorguiev said. “Any American buyer is being purchased, therefore, a market share and a user base, not transformative technology.”
