President Donald Trump signed an executive order to delay the federal ban on TikTok for 75 days, directing the Department of Justice to hold off on enforcing the Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, prohibiting the app’s sale or ban within that period.
The act, which former President Biden signed in April 2024, required TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance Ltd., to sell a majority of its stake before Jan. 19 in order to continue operations in the United States.
However, when the Biden administration decided to leave enforcement of the ban to the incoming administration, the future of TikTok became one of the key issues addressed by Trump on his first day in office.
“Accordingly, I am instructing the Attorney General not to take any action to enforce the act for a period of 75 days from today to allow my Administration an opportunity to determine the appropriate course forward in an orderly way that protects national security while avoiding an abrupt shutdown of a communications platform used by millions of Americans,” Trump said in the executive order.
The executive order comes after nearly a year of court proceedings, where Congress warned of the dangers of ByteDance’s ties with the Chinese government and the potential threats it poses on national security.
Just two days before the app was to be banned, the Supreme Court rejected a free-speech challenge by the social media platform, which would penalize those making TikTok available on app stores. The app went dark for most users on Jan. 18, with a message that read that the app is “working to restore our service in the U.S. as soon as possible.”
The next day, Trump announced his support for TikTok and the platform was restored a day before the executive order was signed, with TikTok issuing a statement of support for Trump on X.
“We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive,” TikTok posted on X.
With the executive order now in place, it reinforces the requirement that the app must be sold or banned, as the president does not have the authority to override it. The order also directs the DOJ to not act against any company that tried to assist TikTok in getting back online before it resumed its services on Jan. 19.
There are several potential solutions being discussed to keep TikTok, including one proposed by Trump, who had opposed the app’s use during his first term.
On Truth Social, Trump expressed his desire to establish a 50-50 ownership split of TikTok between ByteDance and the U.S. as a “joint venture,” though he did not clarify what type of U.S. entity he had in mind.
It also remains unclear whether this proposal would be feasible under the law’s stipulations, as the law restricts a foreign entity’s ownership of the app to 20%.
Trump said he is considering the possibility of Tesla CEO Elon Musk or Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison purchasing the app, noting that ByteDance would have “the ultimate partner” in the U.S.
While ByteDance has not disclosed whether it will sell TikTok, the Chinese government has reportedly considered selling the app to Musk, according to a Bloomberg News report. Musk has not publicly commented on the possibility of him purchasing the app.
While analysts have valued TikTok at $50 billion, Trump stated the app is “worthless” without a permit to operate in the U.S., suggesting that with one, it could be worth $1 trillion.
For now, the feasibility of the suggested plans and how ByteDance and the U.S. government will utilize the 75-day period remain unclear, leaving the future of the social media platform much in doubt.
