‘We had a deal pretty much for TikTok, not a deal but pretty close,’ Trump told reporters in early April. ‘And then China changed the deal because of tariffs.’
President Donald Trump has said that if a deal is not reached by the June 19 deadline, he would offer TikTok another extension to divest from its Beijing-based parent company before it faces a ban in the United States.
In an interview that aired on May 4, Trump told Kristen Welker of NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he has a “little sweet spot” in his heart over the short video application because of its popularity among young Americans. He cited his gains among the younger demographic in the 2024 election as a Republican candidate for president with a campaign “focused on TikTok.”
“I’d like to see [a deal] done,” Trump said. “TikTok is—it’s very interesting, but it will be protected. It will be very strongly protected. But if it needs an extension, I would be willing to give it an extension, might not need it.”
In 2024, Congress passed a bill ordering TikTok’s U.S.-based operations to divest from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, by Jan. 19 or face a ban in the United States.
Lawmakers have expressed national security concerns over the app’s ties to the Chinese regime, particularly regarding the exposure of user data and the potential for algorithm manipulation.
In a March 2024 hearing, FBI Director Christopher Wray warned that ByteDance’s algorithm, coupled with the U.S. user data that TikTok collects, would enable influence operations that are “extraordinarily difficult to detect, which is part of what makes the national security concerns represented by TikTok so significant.”
During an April 9 congressional hearing, “Shark Tank” investor Kevin O’Leary accused the Chinese regime of using the app to distribute propaganda to shape public perception of Trump’s tariffs.
“TikTok is weapons-grade spyware, period,” O’Leary told lawmakers. “It’s one of the best propaganda machines I’ve ever seen.”
After the app briefly went dark in the United States on Jan. 18, Trump said he would sign an executive order upon inauguration extending TikTok’s divest-or-face-a-ban deadline, which brought it back to U.S. app stores.
“My Administration has been working very hard on a Deal to SAVE TIKTOK, and we have made tremendous progress,” Trump wrote in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social. “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.”
That pushed TikTok’s deadline to June 19.
By Jacob Burg
