President Donald Trump is expected to delay enforcement of the TikTok ban for a third time, as new trade talks with China ramp up, per the New York Post’s On The Money.
The existing extension, which mandates that TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, divest from the US version of the video-sharing app, expires on 19 June.
“The president has said he’s willing to (announce another extension) if it has to happen,” a government official familiar with Trump’s thinking told On The Money on Tuesday. The same official added that Beijing is using TikTok as a “bargaining chip,” noting, “The Chinese just want to hold this up as leverage in the trade talks.”
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“It’ll be protected. It’ll be very strongly protected. But if it needs an extension, I would be willing to give it an extension,” the POTUS told NBC News while agreeing that he has a “little sweet spot” for TikTok in his heart.
Trump may let TikTok ‘go dark’ on June 19, Wall Street insider warns
Notably, Trump ally Larry Ellison’s Oracle expressed an interest in acquiring the Chinese social giant’s US part.
Talks were moving forward until Trump reignited his so-called ‘Liberation Day’ trade war earlier this year with steep tariffs on Chinese goods, some as high as 145%. Those have since been reduced to 30% as both sides have shown renewed interest in hashing out a final agreement.
However, Trump now seems to view the app differently. “He believes the app, popular with younger Americans, helped get him elected in 2024,” a Wall Street banker involved in the TikTok deal told On The Money.
The same banker warned that Trump might even let TikTok “go dark” on 19 June, disappearing from US app stores, if he believes it would give him an upper hand at the negotiating table.
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TikTok has long denied allegations of data sharing with the Chinese government. The Biden administration had signed the original “divest-or-ban” law before leaving office, setting it to take effect on 19 January, just one day before Trump’s inauguration.
