By 
Ghazali Ibrahim
The United States, President-elect Donald Trump announced he is “most likely” to grant TikTok a 90-day extension from a U.S. ban, provided its China-based parent company, ByteDance, meets certain conditions for divestiture.
Speaking with NBC News in an exclusive telephone conversation on Saturday, Trump emphasized the need to evaluate the situation carefully and hinted at an official decision on Monday.
However, the Sunday compliance deadline could still result in TikTok temporarily going offline, even with a possible extension.
Recall that Biden administration, which passed the bipartisan law mandating TikTok’s divestiture, has deferred enforcement to Trump’s incoming administration. TikTok warned it might “go dark” without immediate clarity from U.S. officials regarding potential legal consequences for its service providers.
In response, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre dismissed TikTok’s plans as a “stunt,” reaffirming that implementation would be handled by the Trump administration.
On Friday, the Supreme Court upheld the law requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok to a non-Chinese buyer, rejecting the platform’s First Amendment arguments. While the ruling allows for a one-time 90-day extension if certain criteria are met, no binding legal agreements or substantial progress toward a sale have been announced. This leaves the app’s future in the U.S. uncertain as ByteDance weighs its next steps.
Trump’s current support for TikTok marks a sharp shift from his earlier presidency, when he attempted to ban the app via executive orders.
Lawmakers backing a TikTok sale or ban cite ByteDance’s alleged ties to the Chinese government and concerns over data privacy and propaganda risks.
Despite the controversy, TikTok remains popular, with millions of American users protesting the proposed restrictions.
TikTok CEO Shou Chew, who plans to attend Trump’s inauguration, thanked the incoming president for his efforts to preserve the app.
Meanwhile, Trump assured the public via Truth Social that his decision would come soon. Without a clear resolution, TikTok risks losing access to U.S. service providers and app stores, which could lead to its eventual shutdown, despite widespread support from its 170 million American users.
