President Donald Trump has again signaled a major shift in his approach toward TikTok, the Chinese-owned social media platform that once faced the brunt of his administration’s national security crackdown.
In a pre-taped interview aired Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press, Trump said he would protect TikTok and was open to granting the app more time to comply with U.S. divestment requirements.
“Perhaps I shouldn’t say this,” Trump said to host Kristen Welker, “but I have a little warm spot in my heart for TikTok.” Despite no formal deal between TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, and a U.S.-based buyer, Trump declared the app “will be protected,” signaling a more conciliatory tone after years of treating the platform as a national security threat.
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During his first term, Trump’s administration issued executive orders aimed at banning TikTok, citing the Chinese Communist Party’s potential access to user data as a top concern. The move would later set off legal battles and a broader public debate about data privacy and digital sovereignty. His decision at the time to force a sale of TikTok’s U.S. operations to an American entity was blocked by courts, but it established a framework later embraced by his successor.
A Surprising U-turn
Trump’s newfound fondness for TikTok has left many surprised, with analysts questioning the motivation behind his softened stance, especially considering how aggressively he moved to ban the platform during his first term.
However, the pointer beams at the clear political undercurrents behind the move. During his 2024 campaign, Trump increasingly leaned on the platform’s massive youth audience to amplify his message. TikTok played a significant role in rallying young voters behind him — a campaign effort quietly spearheaded by his youngest son, Barron Trump, who is said to have convinced his father to reconsider his opposition to the app.
While Trump has repeatedly claimed that he “won young people by 36 points,” exit polls reported by CNN after the last election showed the opposite: former Vice President Kamala Harris defeated Trump 54% to 43% among voters aged 18 to 24. Nonetheless, Trump’s heavy presence on the platform during the campaign, alongside influencers and viral content, is credited with helping him close the gap among younger voters.
It’s against this backdrop that many believe Trump’s decision to grant TikTok another 75-day extension, which he announced on April 4, just a day before the previous deadline expired, was politically motivated. It’s the second such extension from the Trump White House, allowing ByteDance more time to divest its American operations in line with legislation passed by Congress and upheld by the Supreme Court.
Another Lifeline for TikTok
The latest extension buys TikTok more time to remain operational in the United States, despite the mounting bipartisan pressure for a full divestment or outright ban. ByteDance has yet to reach a final agreement with any American buyer, but talks are ongoing. Interest has come from high-profile figures including investor and Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary and YouTube creator MrBeast.
Still, some see these repeated delays not as genuine attempts to secure a deal but as strategic maneuvering by Trump himself.
A New Bargaining Chip?
Multiple reports suggest that Trump may be planning to use TikTok as leverage in his ongoing trade tensions with Beijing. In March, he hinted that he could offer China “a little reduction in tariffs or something to get it done” — a remark that has only deepened speculation that the app’s future is now caught up in broader geopolitical gamesmanship.
If true, it would mean TikTok is being repurposed from a national security threat into a bargaining chip in a revived trade war — one Trump has long promised to escalate. Supporters of the president argue that this is a smart negotiating tactic, allowing the U.S. to maintain leverage over a tech platform China cares deeply about. However, his critics warn that it undermines the very basis for the original push to ban the app: protecting Americans’ data from foreign surveillance.
Meanwhile, the legal framework for TikTok’s forced divestment remains in place. President Joe Biden signed into law a bill last year mandating that ByteDance sell off TikTok’s U.S. business or risk being banned from American app stores. The Supreme Court upheld the law in January, prompting TikTok to briefly halt access to its app for U.S. users — a move that caused widespread alarm among content creators and influencers.
Trump’s decision to issue back-to-back extensions has effectively defanged the law’s immediate threat, allowing TikTok to continue operating as negotiations drag on. But with political calculations now increasingly intertwined with tech policy, the app’s fate remains uncertain.