TRUMP SAYS TIKTOK NEGOTIATIONS ARE ONGOING – His administration weighs a Sept. 17 deadline for ByteDance to sell TikTok’s U.S. operations
President Donald Trump said that negotiations over TikTok are ongoing and that the app’s fate could depend on China.
Speaking to reporters in Bedminster, New Jersey, before departing for Washington, Trump said, “They’re negotiating TikTok right now. We may let it die. Or we may… I don’t know. It depends. Up to China, it doesn’t matter too much.” He added that he would “like to do it for the kids that like it,” and noted his own political gains on the platform: “Selfishly speaking, I did very well on TikTok, and I got the youth vote… some of it is attributed to TikTok.”
His comments come as the administration weighs a fourth extension of a Sept. 17 deadline for ByteDance to sell TikTok’s U.S. operations or face a shutdown, according to a source familiar with the matter. An extension would underscore reluctance to cut off an app used by about 170 million Americans, even as Congress has pushed for a sale on national security grounds.
Trump also suggested that any deal remains constrained by Beijing’s approval, particularly regarding TikTok’s algorithm, and noted that broader U.S.-China trade talks—now involving Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer—will touch on the issue.
