President Trump will signal one other govt order this week extending the deadline for TikTok’s dad or mum firm to divest the video sharing app, White Home press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated Tuesday.
“As he has said many times, President Trump does not want TikTok to go dark,” Leavitt stated in a press release shared with The Hill. “This extension will final 90 days, which the Administration will spend working to make sure this deal is closed in order that the American individuals can proceed to make use of TikTok with the reassurance that their information is protected and safe.”
Leavitt’s affirmation got here simply hours after Trump stated earlier within the day he would probably prolong the divesture deadline to forestall a ban on TikTok from taking impact in the USA.
When requested whether or not he would give the favored video-sharing platform one other extension, the president advised reporters aboard Air Pressure One, “Probably, yeah.”
“Probably have to get China approval, but I think we’ll get it,” Trump stated as he traveled again from the Group of Seven summit in Canada. “I think President Xi [Jinping] will ultimately approve it.”
The anticipated order will mark the third extension from Trump since he took workplace in January.
The regulation requiring TikTok’s China-based dad or mum firm ByteDance to divest from the platform or face a ban on U.S. networks and app shops was signed by former President Biden final 12 months.
The regulation initially went into impact on Jan. 19 — the day earlier than Trump was sworn into his second time period — inflicting the platform to go darkish for a couple of hours after the Supreme Court docket upheld the divest-or-ban regulation.
However the platform was rapidly introduced again on-line after Trump pledged to challenge an govt order as soon as again in workplace to offer the corporate an extension.
The president made good on that promise, giving TikTok’s Chinese language dad or mum firm ByteDance 75 days past the preliminary January deadline to divest kind the platform amid nationwide safety issues.
The White Home finalized a deal on TikTok in early April, but it surely fell aside when Trump introduced sweeping new “reciprocal” tariffs, together with important import taxes on Chinese language items.
The president prolonged the TikTok deadline by one other 75 days, which was set to run out on June 19.
Brett Samuels contributed reporting.
