By Angela Palumbo

President Donald Trump said he is signing an executive order to keep TikTok running for another 75 days.

But a deal to sell a majority of the social media app to a group of U.S. buyers was derailed when the president announced his reciprocal tariffs, a person familiar with the matter told Barron's.

Trump said in a Truth Social post on Friday that his administration has been working "very hard on a deal to SAVE TIKTOK," and has made "tremendous progress." However, he said the deal needs more work to ensure all of the approvals are signed, leading him to sign the executive order.

This comes just one day before Trump's previous 75-day extension for TikTok ran out.

However, the person told Barron's that as of Wednesday, a deal was finalized and Trump was going to sign an executive order that would have led to a spin off TikTok's operations in the U.S. into a new company. The new company would have been based inside the country and owned and operated by a majority of American investors. ByteDance would have kept a minority position.

The planned executive order would have initiated a 120-day closing period to finalize the paperwork and financing, the person said. The deal had the approval of investors, ByteDance, and the U.S. government.

That changed, the person said, after Trump's reciprocal tariffs were implemented. ByteDance representatives called the White House on Thursday to indicate China would no longer approve the deal until there could be negotiations about trade and tariffs.

Trump announced hefty tariffs against China on Wednesday night, and China has since matched those levies with its own 34% tariff on U.S. imports, effective April 10.

A ByteDance spokesperson said Friday that while the company, which owns TikTok, has been in discussion with the U.S. government regarding a potential solution, "an agreement has not been executed."

"There are key matters to be resolved. Any agreement will be subject to approval under Chinese law," the spokesperson said.

Trump also said in his Truth Social post that he hopes to continue working in good faith with China on a deal to sell TikTok's U.S. operations, even as the country is "not very happy about our Reciprocal Tariffs."

The possibility of a TikTok sale is a big deal for the social-media platform, which is used by about 170 million Americans. Former President Joe Biden signed a law last year that would ban the app in the U.S. unless it is sold to an owner that isn't controlled by a foreign adversary. Lawmakers believe the Chinese owned platform collects harmful user data, which TikTok denies.

The law states that if a qualified divestiture is in the works, the ban could be delayed while details are worked out. And while Trump has delayed the shutdown of the app again as "the deal requires more work," his post on Friday didn't elaborate further on what the deal could be. Barron's has reached out to the White House for clarity.

There has been quite a bit of chatter about different U.S. companies and investors interested in buying TikTok. A person familiar with the matter confirmed to Barron's on Wednesday that Amazon.com put in a bid to buy the app, and also said the Trump administration is completing plans for potential investors that could include Blackstone and Oracle, as well as a list of other investors that will likely involve blue-chip private-equity firms, venture-capital firms, and major investors in the tech industry.

AppLovin said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday that it indicated to the president it is interested in exploring a TikTok purchase.

Write to Angela Palumbo at angela.palumbo@dowjones.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 04, 2025 18:28 ET (22:28 GMT)

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