MW Trump overrides Congress to grant TikTok an extension. Here's why that matters.
By Robert Schroeder
Popular app gets another 75 days to operate in U.S.
President Donald Trump on Friday said he's giving Chinese-owned social-media platform TikTok more time to operate in the U.S. while an investment deal gets worked out.
"We have made tremendous progress," Trump said in a post on Truth Social, adding that he does not want the popular platform to "go dark."
"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," he said.
Trump is once again going around Congress as he mulls the fate of the app, which has 170 million U.S. users. Lawmakers say the nonenforcement of the TikTok ban is not just unlawful but puts certain companies at risk.
"The law imposes liability - up to $850 billion in fines - on companies for facilitating TikTok's continued operations in the U.S.," Democratic Sens. Edward Markey, Chris Van Hollen and Cory Booker noted in a late March letter to Trump. That's a reference to companies like Apple $(AAPL)$ and Google $(GOOG)$ $(GOOGL)$.
This is Trump's second 75-day reprieve for TikTok, and it shows the willingness of the president to circumvent the will of Congress.
An executive order Trump signed on Inauguration Day said that the Justice Department should not, for 75 days, enforce a bipartisan law that bans TikTok nationwide as long as it remains controlled by its Chinese parent company, ByteDance Ltd.
Bidders for TikTok have reportedly included Amazon.com $(AMZN)$, digital-advertising platform AppLovin (APP) and Oracle $(ORCL)$, which provides cloud services to TikTok.
Victor Reklaitis contributed.
-Robert Schroeder
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April 04, 2025 14:44 ET (18:44 GMT)
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