WASHINGTON, April 4. /TASS/. US President Donald Trump has signed a decree allowing the TikTok social network to keep operating in the United States for another 75 days.
"My Administration has been working very hard on a Deal to SAVE TIKTOK, and we have made tremendous progress. 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," he wrote on Truth Social.
"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.!)," he added. "This proves that Tariffs are the most powerful Economic tool, and very important to our National Security! We do not want TikTok to "go dark." We look forward to working with TikTok and China to close the Deal."
In 2024, then US president Joe Biden signed a law forcing China’s ByteDance corporation, which owns TikTok, to sell the social network or cease its activities in the United States by January 19 of this year. Trump, however, after his inauguration, signed a decree postponing TikTok’s ban for 75 days until April 5.
The American leader also said that the United States should have a 50% stake in TikTok, though he did not specify what that would entail. He noted that he’s a fan of the platform, where he’s very popular, adding that its young user base contributed to his victory in the November 2024 election.
Earlier, the press secretary of the Chinese Embassy in Washington compared the possible ban to "robbery."
On April 3, Trump said he was ready to consider an agreement under which China would allow the sale of TikTok in return for easing US customs duties. According to the American leader, there is no certainty that Beijing would accept such terms. Trump said his administration was very close to finalizing a deal to acquire TikTok, with multiple American investors involved.
Terms of the deal
According to Bloomberg, on April 2, Trump considered an offer from a group of American investors, including Oracle, Blackstone and venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz to acquire TikTok.
According to agency sources, the proposal provides that new external investors would take a 50% stake in TikTok's US operations, a unit that would be spun off from ByteDance. The existing investors would retain 30% of the business. ByteDance's share in the new American venture would be slightly under 20%.