Trump extends TikTok deadline again as tensions with China and Republicans grow

President Donald Trump extended for a third time the deadline for TikTok to divest its U.S. operations, a move that is further tightening the noose with China and a certain wing of the Republican Party in Congress.

The new extension, announced Tuesday by the White House, will be for 90 days and responds to President Trump's interest in continuing to try to reach an agreement that ensures the safe use of the app by U.S. citizens.

"President Trump does not want TikTok to go dark," said press secretary Karoline Leavitt. "This extension will last 90 days, which the Administration will spend working to ensure this deal is closed so that the American people can continue to use TikTok with the assurance that their data is safe and secure.”

This extension comes after the app, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, was declared illegal for commercial operations in the United States last January 19, under a law signed in 2024 by former President Joe Biden.

Since Trump took office, in fact, several unilateral extensions of the legal deadline were issued under the argument that there is still room for a negotiated solution.

A deal stalled by China

According to sources close to the negotiation cited by Politico, a possible TikTok sale deal was on the verge of closing before the deadline of last April 5, but the deal was blocked outright by the Chinese regime.

According to Politico, Beijing would have ordered ByteDance to pause the transaction after Trump imposed a new round of reciprocal tariffs against China and dozens of other countries. Thus, the Chinese Communist Party's intervention made TikTok a de facto bargaining chip within the trade conflict that pits the two powers against each other.

Republican patience is wearing thin

Meanwhile, in Congress, a Republican wing is beginning to show signs of impatience with President Donald Trump.

While most congressional members continue to avoid publicly confronting the president even though they want to shut down TikTok, some criticism is beginning to emerge.

"We voted that it should be banned, and I look forward to the day that they can’t continue to propagate Chinese talking points," Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Missouri) said hours before the official announcement of the latest extension.

Schmitt's comments follow earlier condemnation from one of the few Republican lawmakers to be outspoken on the issue, Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Michigan), chairman of the special committee on China in the House of Representatives, who warned in March that any solution that does not involve a full divestment of ByteDance from TikTok would be insufficient.

Despite the rising tensions, President Trump insists that there is still some room for a deal. However, with each extension, political pressure, internal and external, intensifies.