‘May let it die’: Donald Trump says TikTok’s fate ‘up to’ China, gives one reason he ‘may’ save it

Speaking to reporters in New Jersey, Trump said he didn’t know if he would again extend the deadline for the deal to happen and said it depends on China.

“I may or may not. We are negotiating TikTok right now. We may let it die, or we may…I don’t know. It depends on China. It doesn’t matter too much. I would love to do it for the kids, they like it,” Trump said.

If extended beyond September 17, it would be the fourth reprieve granted by Donald Trump from federal enforcement of a law that originally gave ByteDance until January 2025 to sell or shut down the popular social media platform.
Last month, Trump said he had US buyers lined up for the app and could extend the deadline further.
While China hawks in Washington have long feared Beijing could harness TikTok to spy on, blackmail or censor Americans, Trump has said he wants to save the app, which helped him woo young voters in the 2024 presidential election.

Progress on a deal has been slow, with any sharing of TikTok’s prized algorithm with a US buyer requiring approval from Beijing.

A deal had been in the works in the spring. It would have spun off TikTok’s US operations into a new U.S.-based firm, majority-owned and operated by US investors. However, it was put on hold after China indicated it would not approve it following Trump’s announcements of steep tariffs on Chinese goods.