Trump Mulls Over Extending TikTok Deadline
President-elect Donald Trump hinted on Saturday that he may grant TikTok a 90-day extension to negotiate a deal aimed at preventing the popular video-sharing platform from being banned in the U.S.
During an interview with NBC News, Trump conveyed that while he has not made a final decision, he is considering a temporary extension for TikTok after his inauguration on Monday. A law prohibiting mobile app stores and internet hosting services from offering TikTok to American users is scheduled to take effect on Sunday.
The legislation, which was approved by Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden last year, allowed TikTok’s Chinese parent company a nine-month window to divest its U.S. operations to a government-approved buyer. Additionally, it gives the sitting president the authority to extend this deadline if a sale process is still underway.
Trump stated in a phone interview with “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker, “I believe that extending the deadline would definitely be an option to consider. A 90-day extension seems plausible because it’s the right path forward. We need to assess the situation thoroughly; it’s quite important.”
He further mentioned, “If I decide to proceed with this, I’ll likely make an announcement on Monday.”
On Friday, both White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco emphasized that the Biden administration would defer the enforcement of this law to Trump, especially given that he will be inaugurated just as the ban is set to take effect.
Later that day, TikTok released a statement seeking “definitive assurance” that the Biden administration would refrain from enforcing the law or penalizing app store operators like Apple and Google, as well as other U.S. companies, if they continue to host TikTok after Sunday.
Without such assurances, TikTok warned it might “be forced to go dark,” although the company did not specify whether this meant voluntarily shutting down its U.S. platform at midnight or ceasing operations due to losing access to essential service providers.
The White House responded to TikTok’s statement on Saturday, describing it as “a stunt.”
Jean-Pierre remarked, “We find no reason for TikTok or any other companies to take extreme actions in the days leading up to the Trump administration’s arrival on Monday. Our position is clear: the incoming administration will be in charge of enforcing this law. Therefore, TikTok and other companies should raise their concerns with them.”
At this point, Apple, Google, and Oracle, the firm responsible for managing TikTok’s data on its servers, have not responded to inquiries about their plans for Sunday.
