Trump to extend TikTok deadline for third time, pushing decision out another 90 days

In a significant move, President Donald Trump is set to extend the deadline requiring ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, to divest its U.S. operations for the third time since he took office. According to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, the President will sign an Executive Order this week that will allow TikTok to continue functioning in the United States. Leavitt emphasized that the President is committed to ensuring TikTok remains accessible, stating, "As he has said many times, President Trump does not want TikTok to go dark." This latest extension will provide an additional 90 days for the administration to work towards finalizing a deal that assures American users their data is protected and secure. Originally, ByteDance faced a deadline of June 19 to comply with a national security law upheld by the Supreme Court shortly before Trump's second inauguration. This law imposes penalties on app store operators, including major players like Apple and Google, as well as internet service providers, for continuing to support TikTok. The initial deadline set for January 19 was pushed to April 5 after Trump signed an executive order early in his presidency. A day before the April deadline, he extended it once more, indicating his willingness to prolong negotiations until a satisfactory agreement is reached. Earlier in May, Trump had indicated to NBC News that he would extend the deadline again if no resolution was achieved, a plan he reiterated recently. Before the first executive order was signed, TikTok briefly went offline in the U.S. for one day, only to be reinstated following the President's announcement. During that initial shutdown, both Apple and Google temporarily removed TikTok from their app stores but reinstated it by February. Several entities, including Oracle, AppLovin, and billionaire Frank McCourt's Project Liberty consortium, have shown interest in acquiring TikTok's U.S. operations, although it remains uncertain whether such a deal would receive approval from the Chinese government.