Trump signs executive order to preserve TikTok for 75 days

Shortly after Monday’s inauguration, President Donald Trump signed an executive order extending a deadline for ByteDance to sell TikTok’s US operations, preventing the app from going dark for an additional 75 days.

The executive order instructs the US attorney general to refrain from enforcing the law that would ban the app and requires companies like Apple and Google to remove it from their app stores. TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Days before the Jan. 19 deadline, Trump offered to “save” the app once he officially takes office. In an interview with Kristen Welker on NBC News on SaturdayTrump said he would give ByteDance more time to find a buyer, but did not explain how he plans to do so. “We have to look at it carefully. It’s a very big situation,” he said.

In a Truth Social post on SundayTrump confirmed that the extension would be done through an executive order that would allow his administration to negotiate a deal with ByteDance. In his post, Trump said he would seek a 50 percent joint venture agreement with ByteDance, preferably with a US entity.

“By doing this, we are saving TikTok, keeping it in good hands and allowing it to (remain) active,” Trump wrote. “Without US approval, there is no TikTok. With our approval, it’s worth hundreds of billions of dollars—perhaps trillions.”

ByteDance and TikTok have yet to publicly respond to Trump’s proposal. At Monday’s signing ceremony, Trump said he thought TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew would “really like it.” Trump said private companies could be involved in financing the talks. “I think you have a lot of people who will be interested in TikTok with the United States as a partner,” he said.

The rush to keep TikTok online came after the company suffered a devastating blow from US Supreme Court. On Friday, a court upheld a law forcing the sale of TikTok to an American owner to prevent a nationwide ban. The decision came just two days before the law went into effect.

Just before midnight on Saturday, TikTok users received a notification warning them that the app was no longer available to US users as a result of the sell or ban law. Around the same time that Apple and Google removed the app from their app stores, other ByteDance-owned apps, including CapCut, Lemon8 and Marvel Snap, were also removed. TikTok was down for about 15 hours before the company issued a statement announcing it would be back.

“In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service. We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will not be penalized, bringing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive,” the company said Sunday evening.

The divestiture law has faced outrage from both sides of the aisle. “In Washington, DC I’m holding meetings trying to lift this ban on TikTok,” Soulja Boy wrote in post on X over the weekend. The rapper was in town to play at a launch party for the crypto industry.

A variety of American financiers consider purchasing the appincluding former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt and former Trump Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. McCourt’s Freedom Project make a formal offer after the Supreme Court announced its decision. Elon Musk’s name has also been mentioned in talks about a deal with the Chinese government, according to Bloomberg.

On Monday, Trump suggested he may retaliate against China if the Chinese government refuses to negotiate a deal to resolve the US government’s national security concerns with TikTok. “I’m not saying I would, but you certainly could,” he said.