Trump says he will ‘most likely’ extend TikTok to avoid ban

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President-elect Donald Trump said he will “most likely” extend the deadline for ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok, to divest the video app, which is facing a nationwide ban set to take effect on Sunday.

In an interview with NBC News, Trump said he was considering extending the deadline by 90 days. His comments come a day later TikTok warned that its 170 million users face an impending blackout after the Supreme Court on Friday upheld the divestment-or-ban law that Congress passed last year to address national security concerns related to China.

“The 90-day extension will most likely happen because it is reasonable,” Trump said. “We have to look at this carefully. It’s a very big situation. . . If I decide to do that, I’ll probably announce it on Monday.”

On Friday, Trump said he spoke with President Xi Jinping and spoke to the Chinese leader about TikTok. Chinese state media said the two leaders spoke, but did not say whether TikTok was part of the conversation.

The Biden administration said Friday it would leave decisions about enforcing the law, which takes effect at midnight Eastern time on Saturday, to the new administration.

That means the companies that provide the video platform – including Apple, Google and Oracle – will have to decide whether they want to risk breaking the law between the midnight deadline and Trump’s inauguration on Monday.

Apple and Oracle declined to comment, while Google did not immediately respond.

TikTok said the Biden administration had “failed to provide necessary clarity” and warned that the app would become “invalid” on January 19 unless there was a “definitive declaration to address the most critical to satisfy service providers and ensure non-enforcement.”

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Saturday called TikTok’s warning a “stunt.”

“We see no reason for TikTok or any other company to take any action in the next few days before the Trump administration takes office on Monday,” Jean-Pierre said in a statement.

“We have made our position clear and clear: the measures to implement this law will be the responsibility of the next government. Therefore, TikTok and other companies should discuss any concerns with them.”

A source familiar with the situation said Biden administration lawyers are “fully committed to enforcement.” However, because the Supreme Court ruling came 48 hours before the deadline, Justice Department officials expected they would need time to develop a timely compliance plan with service providers. The Justice Department said Friday that implementing the law and ensuring compliance is “a process that unfolds over time.”

In an overwhelming bipartisan vote last March, Congress passed a law requiring ByteDance to divest TikTok to avoid a nationwide ban on the app.

Lawmakers and U.S. security officials believe Chinese ownership of the app poses a national security risk because it could be used by the Chinese Communist Party for espionage and disinformation. TikTok has denied that the Chinese government has any influence over the app.

In his first term, Trump issued an executive order to ban TikTok from operating in the US, but the courts blocked it at the last minute. In early 2024, he opposed Congress’s divest-or-ban measure, saying it would help Facebook, which banned him from its social media platform for two years.

Trump has appointed several China hawks opposed to Chinese ownership of TikTok to his administration, including Mike Waltz, a former Green Beret and Florida congressman who will serve as national security adviser.

Earlier this week, Waltz said the new administration would “take action to prevent TikTok from going dark,” and said the legislation allows for an extension as long as a “viable deal” is on the table.

After Friday’s TikTok statement, Rush Doshi, a former senior Biden administration official in China, wrote on X that the company had only itself to blame.

“TikTok had 268 days to sell, so it wasn’t run by China. That would have solved everything. But they didn’t even try. China would not allow them,” Doshi said.

“Now, with time running out, they want Biden to ignore a bipartisan law that the US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) upheld 9-0. If they shut down, it’s on them.”

Additional reporting by Hannah Murphy and Michael Acton