The administration of US President Donald Trump is preparing to extend yet again the deadline for China’s ByteDance to divest its US TikTok operations or face a nationwide shutdown, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. The September 17 deadline, originally imposed under a law passed by Congress, would mark the fourth reprieve since Trump took office in January 2025.
ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, was first ordered to sell its US assets by January 2025 amid concerns in Washington that Beijing could use the app to spy on or manipulate American users. TikTok, which has 170 million users in the United States, has been at the center of escalating tensions between Washington and Beijing over technology, trade, and national security.
While critics in Congress have pushed for swift enforcement of the sale, Trump has repeatedly delayed the deadline. He has publicly emphasized his desire to save the app, which played a role in helping him connect with younger voters during his 2024 re-election campaign. “I have US buyers lined up,” Trump said last month, hinting at another possible extension. The White House has not formally commented on the latest move.
Efforts to broker a deal have been hampered by geopolitics. A spring proposal to spin off TikTok’s US operations into a new, majority US-owned company stalled after China signaled it would block the transfer of TikTok’s powerful recommendation algorithm. Beijing’s resistance hardened further after Trump announced steep new tariffs on Chinese goods earlier this year.
Meanwhile, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer opened talks in Spain on Sunday with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and chief negotiator Li Chenggang. TikTok is expected to feature prominently in discussions, marking the first time the app has been officially placed on the agenda of US-China trade negotiations. Still, insiders caution that no agreement will be reached before the September 17 deadline.
TikTok was absent from earlier rounds of negotiations in Geneva, London, and Stockholm. Analysts say its inclusion now provides Trump with political cover for another extension, even as lawmakers from both parties grow frustrated with the repeated delays. Congress had mandated that ByteDance divest TikTok or shut it down on national security grounds, but enforcement has so far been avoided.
Since taking office for his second term, Trump has pushed the deadline forward three times—first from January to April, then from May to June, and later from June to September. A fourth extension, observers say, highlights the administration’s reluctance to shutter one of the most popular social media platforms in the United States, despite mounting bipartisan pressure.
As the clock ticks toward September 17, the fate of TikTok remains uncertain. The outcome of both the trade talks and the White House’s decision will not only shape the future of the app in the US but also signal how far Trump is willing to go in balancing national security concerns with political and diplomatic realities.
