United States President Donald Trump has signed an executive order delaying a nationwide ban on the Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok for the third time.
The enforcement of the ban, originally scheduled to take effect in January 2025, has now been deferred by an additional 90 days, pushing the deadline to 17 September 2025.
In a brief statement posted to his Truth Social platform on Thursday, Trump wrote:
“I’ve just signed the Executive Order extending the Deadline for the TikTok closing for 90 days (September 17, 2025). Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
The measure follows two earlier extensions and comes as negotiations over the sale or restructuring of TikTok’s U.S. operations remain unresolved. The American government has maintained that the application poses potential national security risks due to its ownership by ByteDance, a Chinese technology company.
Congress passed legislation in early 2024 requiring TikTok to divest its U.S. assets or face a full ban. The move was driven by concerns that the platform could allow access to American user data by Chinese state authorities. TikTok has repeatedly denied these allegations, asserting that it does not share data with the Chinese government and stores U.S. user information on servers in the United States and Singapore.
Under the plan endorsed by the Trump administration, TikTok’s operations in the United States would be transferred to a new, U.S.-based company. This new entity would be primarily owned and managed by American investors, effectively severing its direct links to ByteDance. However, progress has stalled amid broader tensions in U.S.–China relations.
Earlier this year, Trump stated that Chinese opposition to a fresh round of U.S. tariffs had led to a halt in negotiations. On 10 April, he indicated that an agreement on the sale of TikTok’s U.S. assets remained possible, but he did not provide a specific timeline for its completion.
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), the federal body responsible for overseeing foreign acquisitions of U.S. companies, continues to review potential structures for a divestment deal. No final decision has yet been issued.
Meanwhile, TikTok remains operational in the United States, where it is used by an estimated 170 million people each month. The platform has become particularly prominent among younger demographics and plays a significant role in advertising, content creation, and political messaging.
TikTok has continued to signal its willingness to cooperate with U.S. regulators and restructure its business model to comply with local legal requirements. However, ByteDance has not yet publicly confirmed any agreement on the proposed spin-off or sale of its U.S. operations.
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