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The April 5 deadline to decide TikTok’s U.S. fate may not be set in stone.
While speaking with reporters in the Oval Office on March 6, President Donald Trump indicated that he would extend the deadline for TikTok to find a U.S.-based buyer if a deal is not reached, reports The Hill.
Trump noted that the current deadline is still just under one month away. “But if I need an extension, I will probably get it extended … We have a lot of interest in TikTok. China is going to play a role, so hopefully China will approve of the deal,” Trump told reporters.
TikTok is owned by Chinese company ByteDance, and it faced a ban in the U.S. Jan. 19 under the Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which was passed by Congress last April and unanimously upheld by the Supreme Court in January.
TikTok went dark in the U.S. for roughly 14 hours on Jan. 18 and 19. The app was restored after Trump, who had not yet to take office, said he would issue an executive order postponing the ban.
Trump made good on his promise hours after his inauguration Jan. 20, signing an executive order that gave TikTok and ByteDance until April 5 to find a U.S.-based buyer.
Who could buy TikTok?
If the Chinese government agrees to proceed with a sale to a U.S.-based entity, several potential suitors have emerged in recent weeks.
On March 3, Reddit cofounder and Seven Seven Six partner Alexis Ohanian agreed to serve as a strategic advisor on a bid by former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt and Kevin O’Leary, an investor and one of the stars of Shark Tank.
Shortly after TikTok’s brief blackout in January, top creator Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast, reportedly joined a bid led by Jesse Tinsley, a tech entrepreneur and the founder of Employer.com.