Florida's West Palm Beach, May 4 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump of the United States stated that if a deal was not made by June 19, he would extend the deadline for China-based ByteDance to sell off U.S. assets of TikTok, the app that 170 million Americans use for short videos. In an interview recorded on Friday at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, Trump told the NBC News show, "Meet the Press with Kristen Welker" that will air nationwide on Sunday, "I would... I'd like to see it done."
Given in the CNN report that after using TikTok to win over young people in the 2024 presidential election, Trump claimed to have a "sweet spot" for the app, saying,
"TikTok is - it's very interesting, but it will be protected."
A rule passed by Congress last year prohibited TikTok from selling the short-form video app if its parent firm, ByteDance, did not. When the restriction went into force in January, TikTok suddenly vanished. Trump then stated that he would postpone the prohibition for ninety days and expressed interest in a joint venture that Americans would own. Reuters stated that The Chinese government, which has to approve the agreement, was
"not very happy about our Reciprocal Tariffs,"
so Trump granted the firm another 75-day delay when the next deadline came around in April. Democratic senators contend that Trump lacks the legal right to extend the deadline and imply that the proposed agreement would not comply with the law.
Citing the economic impact of 145% tariffs on Chinese imports, Trump told NBC News that China was eager to agree.
He stated that he might eventually reduce the tariffs as part of a larger deal, but he would not do so in order to pressure Beijing to the negotiating table.
Unless ByteDance had finished selling up the app's U.S. assets, the legislation mandated that TikTok cease operations by January 19. Trump chose not to implement his second term, which officially began on January 20. The deadline was first moved to early April by him, and then it was moved to June 19 last month
