OAN Staff James Meyers
3:10 PM – Friday, April 4, 2025
President Donald Trump has extended the deadline for the popular social media app TikTok, for the next 75 days — pushing for a bidding war with China.
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Trump extended the deadline that requires China-based company ByteDance to sell the app or risk an immediate ban in the U.S.
The president has cultivated a reputation over several decades as a highly strategic dealmaker, a hallmark of his long-standing career in the business world. His approach to negotiations—often characterized by bold risk-taking, assertive bargaining tactics, and an emphasis on personal branding—has become a defining aspect of his public persona and professional legacy.
“Trump is the ultimate decision maker,” a source close to Trump told the press. “He just extended the deal. All bids are on the table.”
Trump announced the TikTok extension on his Truth Social platform, saying that the deal “requires more work to ensure all necessary approvals are signed.” The extension will “keep TikTok up and running for an additional 75 days.” The new extension kicks TikTok’s deadline to mid-June.
“We hope to continue working in Good Faith with China, who I understand are not very happy about our Reciprocal Tariffs (Necessary for Fair and Balanced Trade between China and the U.S.A.!),” Trump said in the post.
Meanwhile, ByteDance has been in talks with the U.S. government, the Chinese company told CNBC — adding that any agreement will be subject to approval under Chinese law.
“An agreement has not been executed,” a spokesperson for ByteDance said in a statement. “There are key matters to be resolved.”
Before the decision by the 47th president, ByteDance faced an April 5th deadline to carry out a “qualified divestiture” of TikTok’s U.S. business, as required by a national security law signed by former President Joe Biden in April 2024.
Originally, ByteDance’s original deadline to sell TikTok was on January 19th, but Trump signed an executive order when he took office the next day that gave the company 75 more days to make a deal. This is the second attempt at making the company come to a decision.
Despite the law penalizing internet service providers and app store owners, such as Google and Apple, for providing services to TikTok in the U.S., Trump’s executive order directed U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi not to enforce it.
The day before the law went into effect, Apple and Google removed TikTok from their respective app stores while TikTok temporarily shut down for U.S.-based users. However, it came back online the next day after Trump said that he would sign an executive order. TikTok finally returned to the Apple App Store and Google Play in February.
Meanwhile, Oracle is considered the front-runner in part since it already hosts TikTok’s data on its servers. Nevertheless, major tech titans, including Amazon, Microsoft, and Perplexity — are also looking for a deal.
China’s government still needs to approve the deal before it can be completed.
“This proves that Tariffs are the most powerful Economic tool, and very important to our National Security!,” Trump said in the Truth Social post. “We do not want TikTok to ‘go dark.’ We look forward to working with TikTok and China to close the Deal. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
The 47th president noted that he may reconsider reducing China’s tariffs in order to establish a solid TikTok deal. In March, Vice President JD Vance told NBC News that a TikTok-related deal could potentially happen by the April deadline.
“There will almost certainly be a high-level agreement that I think satisfies our national security concerns, allows there to be a distinct American TikTok enterprise,” Vance said at the time.
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