US President Donald Trump has indicated he’s willing to further extend the deadline for TikTok’s potential ban in the US.
“Perhaps I shouldn’t say this, but I have a little warm spot in my heart for TikTok,” Trump told NBC’s Kristen Welker during an exclusive Meet the Press interview on Sunday (May 4).
Speaking about another potential extension, Trump said, “I’d like to see it done. I won young people by 36 points. That’s a lot. No Republican ever won young people, and I won it by 36 points, and I focused on TikTok.”
The ByteDance-owned video-sharing platform has been operating under a series of reprieves since January, when legislation signed by former President Joe Biden mandated the Chinese parent company to divest its US operations or face a nationwide ban.
“Perhaps I shouldn’t say this, but I have a little warm spot in my heart for TikTok.”
Donald Trump, US President
Trump has already extended the deadline twice through executive action, pushing the current due date to June 19.
“TikTok is very interesting, but it will be protected,” Trump told Welker during the interview, offering no specific timeline for a resolution.
TikTok’s US ban woes began in April 2024 when Biden signed legislation giving ByteDance until January 19, 2025, to sell its stake to a US owner or face a ban. When the deadline arrived, TikTok briefly disappeared from app stores as Apple and Google complied with the law.
The shutdown lasted barely 24 hours. Shortly after TikTok went offline, Trump intervened via a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, calling for it to remain available.
Upon taking office, Trump then formalized a 75-day extension through April 5, followed by another extension to June 19. His administration has maintained that negotiations for a divestiture deal continue.
However, the talks were upended by Trump’s sweeping tariffs on China, further exacerbating the already strained relationship between the two countries.
Speaking to NBC’s Welker, Trump said he would not drop tariffs to get China to the negotiating table, although he indicated that he could lower the levies.
“At some point I would lower them because otherwise, you can’t do business with them and they want to do business very much. Their economy is really doing badly. Their economy is collapsing.”
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