WEST PALM BEACH, Florida: US President Donald Trump said he would extend the Jun 19 deadline for China-based ByteDance to divest the US assets of TikTok, the short video app used by 170 million Americans, if no deal had been reached by then.
“I would … I’d like to see it done,” Trump told the NBC News program “Meet the Press with Kristen Welker” in an interview taped on Friday (May 4) at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, that is airing across the United States on Sunday.
Trump said he had a “sweet spot” for the app after it helped him win over young voters in the 2024 presidential election, adding, “TikTok is – it’s very interesting, but it will be protected”.
Trump has already twice granted a reprieve from the enforcement of a congressionally mandated ban on TikTok that was initially due to take effect in January.
A deal had been in the works that would spin off TikTok’s US operations into a new firm based in the United States and majority-owned and operated by US investors but it was put on hold after China indicated it would not approve it following Trump’s announcements of steep tariffs on Chinese goods.
Democratic senators argue that Trump has no legal authority to extend the deadline, and suggest that the deal that had been under consideration would not meet legal requirements.
