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President Donald Trump confirmed Sunday night that the U.S. was “pretty close” to finalizing a TikTok divestment deal before China backed out in response to newly announced tariffs.
A deal was nearly in place between American investors and ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, before the White House imposed a 34 percent tariff on Chinese goods as part of Trump’s “Liberation Day” initiative.
“We had a deal pretty much for TikTok — not a deal but pretty close — and then China changed the deal because of tariffs,” the president said.
Trump noted the power of tariffs in his response to the ongoing TikTok deal controversy with China.
“If I gave a little cut in tariffs, they’d approve that deal in 15 minutes, which shows you the power of tariffs, right?” Trump said.
The president shared on Truth Social Friday that he was giving TikTok 75 more days to form a deal.
“My Administration has been working very hard on a Deal to SAVE TIKTOK, and we have made tremendous progress. The Deal requires more work to ensure all necessary approvals are signed, which is why I am signing an Executive Order to keep TikTok up and running for an additional 75 days,” Trump wrote.
“We hope to continue working in Good Faith with China, who I understand are not very happy about our Reciprocal Tariffs (Necessary for Fair and Balanced Trade between China and the U.S.A.!). This proves that Tariffs are the most powerful Economic tool, and very important to our National Security! We do not want TikTok to ‘go dark.’ We look forward to working with TikTok and China to close the Deal. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” he added.
Trump initially set the April 5 deadline in January, requiring TikTok to secure a non-Chinese buyer or face a ban in the U.S. on national security grounds under a 2024 law.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One in March, Trump mentioned, “We have a lot of potential buyers,” and emphasized the strong interest in the app, saying, “I’d like to see TikTok remain alive.”
TikTok was restored to Google and Apple app stores in February after being removed over a legal ban requiring the company to divest from China-based ByteDance.
The change came following a reported letter from the Trump administration’s U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, notifying the companies they would not be punished for offering the app while negotiations continue with TikTok’s parent company.