Donald Trump signs Executive Order giving TikTok another 75 days to find a US buyer

US PRESIDENT DONALD Trump has said he is signing an executive order to keep TikTok running in the US for another 75 days.

He said it will give his administration more time to broker a deal to bring the social media platform under American ownership.

Congress had mandated that the platform be divested from China by 19 January or barred in the US on national security grounds.

Trump moved unilaterally to extend the deadline to this weekend, as he sought to negotiate an agreement to keep it running.

That delay was set to expire at midnight on 5 April and was today extended one again.

Trump has recently entertained an array of offers from US businesses seeking to buy a share of the popular social media site, but China’s ByteDance, which owns TikTok and its closely held algorithm, has insisted the platform is not for sale.

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“My Administration has been working very hard on a Deal to SAVE TIKTOK, and we have made tremendous progress,” Trump posted on his social media platform.

“The Deal requires more work to ensure all necessary approvals are signed, which is why I am signing an Executive Order to keep TikTok up and running for an additional 75 days.”

Trump added: “We look forward to working with TikTok and China to close the Deal.”

Yesterday, Trump suggested TikTok could be part of a broader deal with China to ease the stinging tariffs he imposed on Beijing as part of a worldwide blitz of levies.

Asked if he was willing to make deals with countries on tariffs, he said: “As long as they are giving us something that is good. For instance with TikTok.”

“We have a situation with TikTok where China will probably say we’ll approve a deal, but will you do something on the tariffs. The tariffs give us great power to negotiate,” he added.

Though Trump supported a ban in his first term, has lately become a TikTok defender, seeing it as a reason more young voters supported him in November’s election.

TikTok, which has headquarters in Singapore and Los Angeles, has said it prioritises user safety, and China’s Foreign Ministry has said China’s government has never and will not ask companies to “collect or provide data, information or intelligence” held in foreign countries.