Donald Trump has ordered another 75-day delay on enforcing the United States’ TikTok ban.
In an April 4 post on Truth Social, the president claimed that his administration has made “tremendous progress” toward reaching a deal to keep the video platform available to users in the United States. Trump, 78, said he hopes to continue working with China on a long-term solution.
“My Administration has been working very hard on a Deal to SAVE TIKTOK, and we have made tremendous progress,” he wrote. “The Deal requires more work to ensure all necessary approvals are signed, which is why I am signing an Executive Order to keep TikTok up and running for an additional 75 days.”
Trump continued, “We do not want TikTok to ‘go dark.’ We look forward to working with TikTok and China to close the Deal.”
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On the first day of his second term, Trump signed an executive order to delay the TikTok ban for 75 days. TikTok “went dark” just two days prior on Jan. 18, hours before the U.S. law that banned the app went into effect. Trump’s self-imposed deadline to solve the issue was set to expire on Saturday, April 5.
The president only has legal authority to grant a one-time extension before the ban takes effect. His new executive order suggests that, regardless of the terms Congress decided on, he is instructing his administration to delay the enforcement of the ban in the U.S.
The debate over TikTok’s presence in the United States is centered on The Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which was enacted on April 24, 2024, and regulates the function of apps run by a “foreign adversary.” The basis for its proposed removal is on national security grounds, the act states.
Trump claimed his initial delay of the TikTok ban was to find a way to protect national security without bringing about a sudden halt to an app used widely in the United States.
The second TikTok ban delay comes two days after Trump implemented new tariffs on Chinese imports, as well as a long list of tariffs on most imports from other countries. Trump cited his recent tariffs on China — where TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance Ltd. is based — as the cause for “good faith” negotiations about the app with China.
