US President Donald Trump will extend by 90 days the June 19 deadline by which Chinese company ByteDance had to sell the US assets of short-video app TikTok. The law provided for the sale or suspension of operations in the absence of significant progress, the White House said, reported Reuters. 

Trump has now twice granted a reprieve from implementing the congressionally ordered ban on TikTok, which was due to take effect in January. "President Trump will sign an additional executive order this week to keep TikTok in place," White House press secretary Carolyn Leavitt said.

That would extend the deadline to mid-September.

"President Trump does not want TikTok to remain in limbo," she added, saying the administration will spend the next three months making sure the sale is completed so Americans can continue to use TikTok with the confidence that their data is safe and secure.

In May, Trump said he would extend the deadline to June 19 after his app helped with young voters in the 2024 election. 

On June 18, he told reporters aboard Air Force One that he expected to extend the deadline again.

"Probably, yes," the Republican said when asked about the deadline extension. "We probably have to get China's approval, but I think we will. I think President Xi will eventually approve it."

The law required TikTok to stop operating by Jan. 19 unless ByteDance completes the sale of the app's U.S. assets or shows significant progress toward divestment.

Trump began his second term as president on January 20 and decided not to implement it. He initially extended the deadline to early April, then again last month to June 19.

In March, Trump said he was willing to cut tariffs on China to strike a deal with TikTok's Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to sell the app used by 170 million Americans.

A deal was in the works this spring that would have spun off TikTok's U.S. operations into a new U.S.-based company majority owned and operated by American investors, but it was put on hold after China indicated it would not approve it following Trump's announcement of high tariffs on Chinese goods. | BGNES