19th January 2025 – (Washington) U.S. President-elect Donald Trump indicated on Saturday that he will “most likely” extend TikTok’s deadline by 90 days on Inauguration Day, which falls on Monday. In an interview with NBC News, Trump revealed that while he has yet to make a final decision, the extension is under serious consideration.
“I think that would be, certainly, an option that we look at. The 90-day extension is something that will be most likely done, because it’s appropriate,” Trump stated during a phone interview. He emphasised the need for careful examination of the situation, describing it as “a very big situation.”
In April 2024, President Joe Biden signed a bipartisan bill mandating that ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, divest the app to a non-Chinese entity within 270 days or face a ban in the United States after 19th January 2025. This law was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday, which compelled ByteDance to comply or risk a nationwide ban starting on Sunday, just a day prior to Trump’s inauguration.
Following the Supreme Court’s ruling, the White House issued a statement asserting that TikTok should remain accessible to American users, provided it is under American or suitably vetted ownership to mitigate national security concerns. “Given the sheer fact of timing, this Administration recognises that actions to implement the law simply must fall to the next Administration, which takes office on Monday,” the statement noted.
In light of these developments, TikTok warned that it may be forced to suspend services for its 170 million U.S. users if the Biden administration does not provide a “definitive” assurance regarding non-enforcement. “Unless the Biden Administration immediately provides a definitive statement to satisfy the most critical service providers assuring non-enforcement, unfortunately TikTok will be forced to go dark on 19th January,” the company stated.
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