Feeling déjà vu? Well, TikTok is facing another shut down and ban on Saturday, April 5 if its Chinese owner ByteDance doesn’t sell the app to a U.S.-approved buyer. However, President Donald Trump believes a deal will come before the deadline.
Last year, Congress required TikTok’s China-based parent company ByteDance to divest its shares in the company by January 19. The American government argues that the TikTok app is a national security threat. Officials claim it is owned and operated under the jurisdiction of the Chinese Communist Party.
The law — called the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act — prohibits Apple and Google’s app stores, as well as web-hosting platforms, from distributing or hosting TikTok in the United States, unless ByteDance, which is based in Beijing, sells its ownership in the app to a third party located in a country that is not deemed a “foreign adversary” of the United States.
RELATED: ICYF: Donald Trump Wanted To Ban TikTok In 2020 And It’s Now Up To Him To ‘Save’ It In 2025
When Trump reentered the White House in January 2025, he extended the January 19 ban deadline. Before returning to office, Trump said he would give TikTok’s owner Bytedance a 90-day extension. However, once sworn in, he shortened it to a 75-day extension. He did so in an executive order that delayed the ban until April 5.
Donald Trump Believes ByteDance will sell TikTok Before April 5 Ban Deadline
As April 5 nears, another possible TikTok ban looms over more than 170 million Americans who use the app. However, on Sunday (March 31), Donald Trump told reporters on Air Force One:
“We have a lot of potential buyers, there’s tremendous interest in TikTok. The decision is going to be my decision. I’d like to see TikTok remain alive.”
Trump is also set to hold a meeting on possible investors to buy TikTok on Wednesday (April 2). The details of the meeting were confirmed by a person familiar with the situation, who wishes to remain anonymous.
Elsewhere, on Friday (March 28) the New York Times reported that private equity group Blackstone is considering a stake in TikTok. The U.S. company would join an existing group of non-Chinese shareholders. Together they will be considered front-runners in the bid for the app.
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