TikTok must sell to a U.S. company by Saturday to avoid facing a government ban.
With President Donald Trump’s executive order inching closer and closer, worries of its nationwide ban continue to spread.
“We have a lot of interest in TikTok, and China is going to play a role, so hopefully China will approve of the deal,” said Trump during a meeting on March 6.
Trump said he’s “probably” extended the deadline if a deal to buy the app has not been reached.
According to data from the Pew Research Center survey, the public is closely divided on whether the U.S. should ban TikTok: 34% of Americans say they would support this, 32% would oppose it, and 33% are not sure.
The pressure has intensified, as three Democratic senators have communicated their concerns and questions directly.
On March 24, in a letter sent to the president, Democratic Senators Edward Markey, Cory Booker and Chris Van Hollen expressed their concerns over the April 5 ban.
“Although we continue to oppose the TikTok ban, it is unacceptable and unworkable for your administration to continue ignoring the requirements in the law, as you did in January by extending the divestment deadline to April 5,” said the lawmakers. “With that April deadline approaching, TikTok’s creators deserve a real solution—not more legal uncertainty. We urge you to work with Congress to ensure that TikTok remains online in the United States.”
The lawmakers called Trump’s 75-day period to maintain TikTok an “unlawful executive order” and stated that he should work with Congress to pass their bill, the Extend the TikTok Dead l ine Act, which would extend the deadline to Oct. 16, 2025. The bill states it aims to protect Americans from the Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act to extend the deadline by which TikTok must be sold in order to avoid being banned.
“If you intend to proceed with the reported Oracle deal, we urge you to work with Congress to propose modifications to the Protecting Americans’ Data from Foreign Adversaries Act to ensure that any Oracle deal prevents TikTok from going dark,” said the lawmakers. “Regardless of your approach, the path to saving TikTok should run through Capitol Hill.”
The lawmakers stated that 170 million Americans who rely on TikTok will continue to face the uncertainty of the app’s future if Trump does not use his influence over congressional Republicans to demand a longterm solution for the ban.
On March 26, Trump said he has the right to make the deal and extend it if he wants.
“There are a multitude of ways you can buy TikTok and we will find the one that works best for our country,” Trump said. “I’m worried about our country more than anything else with respect to TikTok.”
Trump said that China will have to play a role in that in the form of an approval and states that he could give China a reduction in tariffs if it agrees to a U.S. takeover of TikTok.
“Maybe I’ll give them a little reduction in tariffs to get it done because every point in tariffs is worth more money than TikTok,” Trump said. “Tariff is a much bigger world, and TikTok is big, but every point in tariff is more than TikTok.”
IMAGE/PIXABAY
