The Trump administration is preparing to once more push back a looming deadline for TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to sell its U.S. assets or face a ban, according to a source familiar with the matter. The current deadline of September 17 is now expected to be extended, marking the fourth time the White House has granted such a reprieve since the issue first came under federal scrutiny.
Originally, legislation mandated that ByteDance divest from TikTok’s U.S. operations or shut them down by January 2025. However, President Donald Trump has repeatedly opted to delay enforcement, citing ongoing negotiations with potential buyers and the political complexities tied to U.S.-China trade relations. The repeated extensions underscore the administration’s reluctance to shutter an app that has become deeply embedded in American culture, with an estimated 170 million U.S. users.
When pressed by reporters on Sunday, September 14, 2025, about TikTok’s fate, Trump appeared noncommittal. “I may or may not, we’re negotiating TikTok right now. We may let it die, or we may, I don’t know, it depends, up to China,” he said. “It doesn’t matter too much. I’d like to do it for the kids.” Despite his equivocal remarks, the administration is quietly weighing its options to avoid a politically unpopular shutdown while maintaining pressure on Beijing.
The White House has not issued an official comment on the anticipated extension. If granted, it would further frustrate lawmakers in both parties who included a mandate for TikTok’s divestiture in federal legislation, arguing that national security concerns outweigh the app’s popularity. Critics fear that TikTok could be exploited by Beijing for surveillance, censorship, or influence operations.
At the same time, Trump has expressed a desire to keep the app operational, noting its appeal among younger Americans and its role as a major cultural platform. This position puts him at odds with Washington’s China hawks, who have consistently warned of risks tied to the app’s Chinese ownership.
Progress toward a sale has been slow, largely due to regulatory hurdles in both Washington and Beijing. A deal considered earlier in the year would have carved out TikTok’s U.S. operations into a new, domestically based company majority-owned by U.S. investors. However, that arrangement collapsed after Beijing signaled it would not approve the transfer of TikTok’s highly valuable algorithm—its core competitive asset—especially in the wake of Trump’s announcement of steep new tariffs on Chinese goods.
The issue of TikTok is now emerging more prominently in U.S.-China trade discussions. On Sunday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer met with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and top negotiator Li Chenggang in Spain. While TikTok was included on the agenda, a breakthrough is not expected before the September 17 deadline, according to the source. The fact that the administration has publicly acknowledged TikTok as part of the trade talks marks a departure from earlier rounds in Geneva, London, and Stockholm, where the app was never formally discussed. Analysts suggest that elevating TikTok into the trade agenda provides the Trump administration political justification for granting yet another extension.
Trump’s handling of the TikTok matter has been defined by delay. Since beginning his second term in January, he has chosen not to enforce the law mandating divestiture. Instead, he has issued a series of deadline extensions: first into early April, then from May to June, followed by a third shift to September. The expected fourth extension reflects the difficulty of balancing domestic political pressures, international trade negotiations, and the practical challenges of unwinding TikTok’s operations from its Chinese ownership structure.
Beyond geopolitics, the ongoing uncertainty has left TikTok, its creators, and its vast user base in limbo. Influencers, small businesses, and cultural communities reliant on the app remain anxious about whether they will retain access to their primary platform. Industry analysts note that while an outright ban remains unlikely, the prolonged negotiations highlight the broader tensions at the intersection of national security, technology, and global commerce.
The administration’s latest move illustrates the stakes not only for TikTok but also for U.S.-China relations at a time when trade, technology, and security concerns are increasingly interwoven. With the September deadline approaching and another extension on the horizon, the future of TikTok in the United States remains uncertain, caught between political maneuvering in Washington and strategic calculations in Beijing.
