The new order will be the third time Trump has delayed the ban imposed by Congress and upheld by the US Supreme Court on the viral video sharing app owned by the Chinese company, ByteDance.
US President Donald Trump is set to sign an executive order this week that will extend the deadline for the Chinese owner of TikTok to divest from the widely-used video sharing social media platform, according to an announcement made by the White House late on Tuesday.
This will be the third time Trump has extended the deadline.
The initial action occurred via an executive order on 20 January, on his first day in office, following a brief suspension of the platform when the ban, sanctioned by Congress and confirmed by the US Supreme Court, came into effect.
In early April, Trump issued an order to extend TikTok’s operation for an additional 75 days, following the breakdown of a potential agreement to sell the app to American owners.
China had backed out of the deal, which the Trump administration had repeatedly said was really close to the finish line, after Trump announced his global tariffs, which targeted Chinese imports heavily.
“As he has said many times, President Trump does not want TikTok to go dark,” White House press secretary Karoline 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.”
Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he flew back to Washington early Tuesday from the Group of Seven – or G7 – summit in Canada that he “probably” would extend the deadline again.
Credit: EURONEWS