President Trump said he plans to reach an agreement on TikTok before April 5, the day his administration plans to ban the increasingly popular video platform in the country.
When asked aboard Air Force One if he would postpone the deadline, Trump replied, “There’ll be a deal with TikTok” but suggested that he would consider extending the deadline.
Last year, the U.S. government, at the time headed by Joe Biden, said that Chinese company ByteDance’s ownership of TikTok poses a national security risk. U.S. officials fear the close ties between the company and Beijing, which could use the platform to get its hands on the personal data of millions of residents.
For this reason, a large bipartisan majority in Congress passed a bill in April 2024 that would force ByteDance to divest from the app. Otherwise, TikTok will be banned from U.S. online stores.
Some U.S. judges in recent months have proposed less drastic measures to protect citizens, such as posting notices on the app to remind users that their data could be shared and used by Communist China, or by banning TikTok from collecting personal information about Americans.
In the U.S., the app has more than 170 million members–a huge number. As experts point out, a possible shutdown of the app in the country would pose a danger not only to ByteDance, but also to thousands of small American businesses that have seen their earnings grow thanks to the social network.
Initially, the measure was to go into effect on January 19, just one day before Trump’s inauguration. The MAGA leader subsequently gave the popular app’s top executives 75 days of “reprieve” to work out a solution with his administration.
During this time, several entrepreneurs expressed interest in buying TikTok, most notably Larry Ellison, patron of Oracle.
Trump, for his part, has also floated the idea of reducing tariffs on imports from China to “facilitate” a possible deal on the social network. The president has said he is confident about reaching an understanding: now, however, time is running out.
