US President Donald Trump is widely anticipated to grant yet another extension to TikTok as it seeks a non-Chinese buyer, delaying a possible ban on the app in the United States. The latest deadline was set to expire on Thursday, marking what would be the third postponement since legislation was introduced requiring TikTok to either be sold or banned due to national security concerns.
In an interview with NBC News last month, Trump hinted at his leniency. “I have a little warm spot in my heart for TikTok,” he said. “If it needs an extension, I would be willing to give it an extension.” The president suggested that potential buyers were prepared to pay TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, “a lot of money” for its US operations.
Despite long-standing security warnings from US officials, Trump has frequently downplayed the risks associated with TikTok’s presence in America, expressing confidence that a deal could eventually be reached to secure its future there. Independent analyst Rob Enderle noted that Trump appears uninterested in pressing the issue unless provoked. “Unless they get on his bad side, TikTok is probably going to be in pretty good shape,” Enderle observed. He added that, despite failing to deliver on many election promises, Trump may see resolving the TikTok situation as an opportunity for a political win.
The ban, originally driven by fears that TikTok was under the influence of the Chinese government, came into effect on 19 January, just one day before Trump’s inauguration. At the time, ByteDance had not pursued any formal sale process. Shweta Singh, an assistant professor at Warwick Business School in the UK, described the dispute as emblematic of the growing “digital Cold War” between Washington and Beijing, with national security, economic policy, and digital governance increasingly overlapping.
Upon taking office, Trump initially delayed enforcing the ban by 75 days, before granting a second extension that pushed the deadline to 19 June. As of Monday, however, there had been no progress towards a sale.
Trade tensions between the US and China have also complicated negotiations. In April, Trump claimed that China might have agreed to a TikTok sale were it not for the ongoing tariff dispute. ByteDance has acknowledged talks with Washington but stressed that several key issues remain unresolved. Any sale, it noted, would also require approval from Chinese authorities.
Proposed solutions have included allowing current US investors in ByteDance to transfer their stakes into a newly independent, globally operated TikTok. Additional American investors — such as Oracle and Blackstone — would then purchase further stakes to reduce ByteDance’s ownership share. Oracle, which already hosts much of TikTok’s US data on its servers, is led by Larry Ellison, a close Trump ally.
However, one major sticking point remains unresolved — TikTok’s prized algorithm. Forrester Principal Analyst Kelsey Chickering emphasised its importance, likening it to “Harry Potter without his wand” if the app were to be stripped of its algorithmic power.
Meanwhile, TikTok continues to develop its platform. On Monday, the company unveiled its new “Symphony” suite of generative AI tools, allowing advertisers to create video content from text or images. “With TikTok Symphony, we’re empowering a global community of marketers, brands, and creators to tell stories that resonate, scale, and drive impact on TikTok,” said Andy Yang, the company’s global head of creative and brand products.
