TikTok would have gone dark again for millions of American users on Thursday, but President Donald Trump said he plans to extend the ban deadline for the popular app a third time.
The app’s Chinese parent company, Bytedance, had until June 19 to reach a deal to sell off TikTok, or shut it down in the United States. The ban, passed by Congress last year and upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, stemmed from bipartisan concern over user data being shared with the Chinese government.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump would sign another executive order to keep the app up and running for U.S. users for another 90 days, punting the deadline to Sept. 17.
“As he has said many times, President Trump does not want TikTok to go dark,” Leavitt said in a statement. “This extension will last 90 days, which the Administration will spend working to ensure this deal is closed so that the American people can continue to use TikTok with the assurance that their data is safe and secure.”
Several American investors and businesses have put forward bids to buy the app, including Microsoft, Amazon and Oracle.
Reid Rasner, one of the potential buyers, said it’s frustrating to have another delay on the app’s purchase but said he continues to trust Trump’s judgment on the delay.
“Our take is this should be the last extension. Enough is enough,” Rasner told the Deseret News. “China has had more than a year to make a deal, and it’s time for them to sell or shut it down, and we’ve got to force the sale.”
A Wyoming businessman, Rasner has offered more than $47.45 billion through Rasner Media to acquire the app with hopes to make the Mountain West a hub for TikTok.
He stressed the importance of the U.S. reaching a deal with ByteDance and China for American users’ data.
Although he wishes the delay didn’t happen, Rasner said his team will “continue to engage” with ByteDance at the negotiating table over the next 90 days. However, it’s becoming “increasingly difficult,” he said, pointing to global tensions.
“China is stonewalling,” Rasner said. “We have to negotiate with ByteDance and someone has to get China to sell, so we’re hoping that a lot of the geopolitical tensions around the world come to a swift conclusion so we can focus on this.”
The app briefly stopped working for American users in January, but on Trump’s first day in office, he pushed the deadline until April as negotiations for securing a deal stalled.
He then signed an order to keep the app up and running for another 75 days, until the June 19 deadline. China backed out of a near deal with a U.S. company after Trump’s tariff announcement.
In early May, Trump said he would extend the deadline if there was still no deal by June. He said he has a “sweet spot” for TikTok because it is used by many young voters, who he says helped him secure election victory last November.
Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Monday evening that he would “probably” extend the deadline again for TikTok to be sold off and the White House later confirmed he would delay the ban until September. It’s the third time the ban of the app has been delayed as negotiations stall.
Rasner questioned China’s motives on the delay.
“Either this is about money, or it’s about espionage at this point,” he said. “So, do they want $50 billion for the American portion or is this truly just a nefarious act of espionage?”
“We’re ready to go,” Rasner said of the sale, “But we need China to let it happen.”
Tomicah Tillemann, the president of Project Liberty, another company looking to be the app’s new U.S. owner, said they are “eager” for the sale to come to a conclusion.
“I think there may be a telling indicator in the fact that this is a 90-day extension, as opposed to a 75-day extension,” Tillemann told the Deseret News. “I hope that means that this is the last time there’s going to be an extension.”
Project Liberty and its founder, Frank McCourt, aim to create a new information system that is both healthier and safer for users. They call their bid to buy TikTok the “People’s Bid,” which would give users more freedom over content and personal data.
Tillemann noted that there are many pressing global issues at the moment, but at Project Liberty, they see the U.S. securing a social media deal as a turning point that could solve other problems.
“I think our feeling would be that there are multitude of challenges in the world demanding attention from American leaders,” he said. “Addressing the issues around TikTok would be a significant unlock in facilitating solutions to those challenges.”
While they continue to work with the Trump administration over the next 90 days, Tillemann highlighted how states like Utah are leading the way in protecting users online.
“We see many states around the country that are looking to Utah’s example when it comes to addressing the challenge of constructive digital policy making,” Tillemann said. “So, we anchor on the work that’s happening there very heavily, and we know others do, too.”