President Donald Trump said he is open to giving China’s TikTok another extension if its parent company ByteDance does not strike a deal by the intended deadline.
Trump said, “I have a little sweet spot in my heart” for TikTok during a wide-ranging interview with NBC’s Kristen Welker on Meet the Press, where the 45th and 47th president reflected on the first 100 days of his second term in office, according to multiple reports.
In the interview — aired on Sunday — President Trump noted the app would be “protected,” and that he may extend the deadline for a TikTok sale before the app is banned from U.S. app stores.
As Breitbart News reported, TikTok briefly went dark for American users on January 19 — one day before President Trump was sworn into office — as ByteDance did not meet the requirements of a U.S. law demanding the Chinese company either sell the app’s U.S. services or be banned in the United States.
Trump then set the deadline to find a non-Chinese buyer for TikTok’s U.S. operations for April 5. In March, the president suggested he might give China “a little reduction in tariffs or something to get it done.”
Last month, the deadline for ByteDance to sell TikTok’s U.S. faction or else be banned in the United States was extended another 75 days to somewhere in the middle of June.
Some experts, such as ABC’s Shark Tank star and venture capitalist Kevin O’Leary, suggested there will not be a third extension, according to a report by Entrepreneur.
TikTok, used by 170 million Americans, has been under fire by U.S. lawmakers citing a national security risk — among other issues — due to ByteDance being beholden to the Chinese Communist Party.
Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
