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President-elect Donald Trump said he would “most likely” extend the deadline for ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese owner, to divest the video app that is the subject of a nationwide ban set to take effect Sunday.
In an interview with NBC News, Trump said he was considering extending the deadline by 90 days. His comments come a day after TikTok warned its 170 million users face imminent outage after the Supreme Court on Friday upheld the divestment or ban law that Congress passed last year to respond national security concerns related to China.
“The 90-day extension is something that will most likely be done, because it is appropriate,” Trump said. “You have to look at it carefully. This is a very big situation. . . If I decide to do it, I will probably announce it on Monday.
On Friday, Trump said he spoke to President Xi Jinping and discussed TikTok with the Chinese leader. Chinese state media said the two leaders spoke but did not say whether TikTok was part of the conversation.
The Biden administration said Friday it would leave decisions about enforcement of the law, which takes effect at midnight Eastern Time Saturday, to the incoming Trump administration.
That means the companies that provide the video platform — including Apple, Google and Oracle — must decide whether they risk violating the law between midnight and Trump’s inauguration on Monday.
Apple and Oracle declined to comment, while Google did not immediately respond.
TikTok said the Biden administration’s statements “failed to provide necessary clarity and assurance to service providers who are integral to maintaining TikTok’s availability to more than 170 million Americans” .
He also warned that video enforcement would “go dark” on January 19 unless the Biden administration “immediately provides a definitive statement to satisfy the most critical service providers ensuring non-enforcement.”
In a landslide bipartisan vote last March, Congress passed a law requiring ByteDance to divest TikTok to avoid a nationwide ban on the app.
U.S. lawmakers and security officials say Chinese ownership of the app poses a national security risk because it could be used for espionage and disinformation by the Chinese Communist Party. TikTok has denied any Chinese government influence on the app.
During his first term, Trump issued an executive order to block TikTok from operating in the United States, but the courts blocked it at the last minute. In early 2024, he spoke out against Congress’ divestment or ban measure on the grounds that it would help Facebook, which banned him from its social media platform for two years.
Trump has appointed several China hawks who oppose Chinese ownership of TikTok to his administration, including Mike Waltz, a former Green Beret and Florida congressman, who will serve as his national security adviser.
Earlier this week, Waltz said the new administration would put in place “measures to keep TikTok from going under,” saying the legislation allowed for an extension as long as a “viable deal” was on the table.
Following TikTok’s statement on Friday, Rush Doshi, a former senior Chinese official in the Biden administration, wrote on X that the company only had itself to blame.
“TikTok had 268 days to sell, so it was not exploited by China. That would have solved everything. But they didn’t even try. China didn’t let them do it,” Doshi said.
“Now, running out of time, they want Biden to ignore a bipartisan law SCOTUS (U.S. Supreme Court) upheld 9-0. If they close, it’s their fault. »
Additional reporting by Hannah Murphy and Michael Acton
