President Donald Trump is further delaying the executive branch’s enforcement of the TikTok ban after Congress passed legislation last year requiring the Chinese company that owns the platform to sell it or face a ban.
Trump signed an executive order Thursday postponing the TikTok ban until September 17, 2025, preventing the enforcement of the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act for a third time since taking office.
“I’ve just signed the Executive Order extending the Deadline for the TikTok closing for 90 days (September 17, 2025). Thank you for your attention to this matter!” Trump announced on Truth Social.
“We are grateful for President Trump’s leadership and support in ensuring that TikTok continues to be available for more than 170 million American users and 7.5 million U.S. businesses that rely on the platform as we continue to work with Vice President Vance’s Office,” TikTok said in a statement.
Trump previously extended TikTok’s deadline to find a buyer in April, giving Chinese company ByteDance 75 more days to sell off the video sharing platform. Several billionaires and large corporations are rumored to be interested in purchasing the social media app, but ByteDance does not appear to be close to selling TikTok off to a U.S. buyer.
Trump first extended the deadline at the start of his term after joining TikTok during the 2024 presidential campaign and amassing millions of followers on the platform. Trump’s success with podcasts and alternative media is widely credited with helping him win over a substantial portion of young men en route to a decisive electoral victory.
Former President Joe Biden signed bipartisan legislation last year requiring ByteDance to either divest from TikTok or sell the app by January 2025. The legislation gained the momentum needed to pass due to concerns about China’s control over the TikTok algorithm and ability to access user data.
TikTok has also faced criticism for its addictive recommendation algorithm because of its impact on children’s mental health. A substantial portion of TikTok’s 170 million U.S. users are millennials or part of generation Z, making the app a dominant force in youth culture.
On average, TikTok users spend an hour a day on the platform and a growing number of Americans are using it for news, with about 40 percent of young adults regularly getting news from TikTok. MAGA influencers have exploded in popularity on TikTok as the platform has become a hotbed for short form political commentary and entertainment.
Some observers believe Trump’s repeated interventions to prevent the enforcement of the TikTok ban constitute executive overreach because Congress passed the law and the Supreme Court upheld it. In his first term, Trump supported a ban on TikTok because of national security concerns, a position he reversed when it came time for Congress to pass a ban. Trump claimed the ban would help Facebook after a pressure campaign from GOP megadonor Jeffrey Yass.