In a saga that has stretched across months of political wrangling, legal battles, and international negotiations, the fate of TikTok in the United States remains as uncertain as ever. Despite Congress passing a law mandating a divestment by TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance, President Donald Trump’s administration has repeatedly delayed enforcement, citing ongoing talks with China and the need to protect American interests. The resulting uncertainty has left millions of American users, lawmakers, and tech industry insiders watching closely for the next twist in the story.
At the heart of the standoff is the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (PAFACAA), passed and signed into law on April 24, 2024. The law required ByteDance to sell its stake in TikTok by January 19, 2025, or face a sweeping ban from U.S. app stores and internet hosting services. Lawmakers cited national security concerns, particularly the risk that the Chinese government could access American users’ data or manipulate content through TikTok’s powerful recommendation algorithm. According to AP, the law’s passage followed months of heated debate, culminating in overwhelming bipartisan support—360 to 58 in the House and 79 to 18 in the Senate.
But the legal story didn’t end there. ByteDance and TikTok challenged the law in court, arguing that it violated Americans’ First Amendment rights. Their hopes were dashed on January 17, 2025, when the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the act, effectively clearing the way for the ban to proceed, as reported by MishTalk and other outlets.
Yet, as the January deadline approached, President Trump intervened. On January 20, 2025, he issued an executive order temporarily delaying enforcement of the ban for 75 days, citing ongoing negotiations. Since then, the Trump administration has issued multiple extensions, the most recent coming on September 16, 2025, pushing the deadline to December 16. The repeated delays have drawn criticism from legal experts and political commentators, who note that the President’s actions appear to defy the clear requirements of the law. As Politico observed, “the whole situation has no apparent precedent in the annals of American law.”
Meanwhile, the White House insists that progress is being made. On September 21, 2025, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News, “We are 100% confident that a deal is done, now that deal just needs to be signed and the president’s team is working with their Chinese counterparts to do just that.” Leavitt provided new details, stating that U.S. companies would control the algorithm that powers TikTok’s video feed, and Americans would hold six of the seven seats on a board overseeing U.S. operations. Tech giant Oracle, she added, would be responsible for TikTok’s data and security. Oracle, for its part, did not respond to requests for comment.
President Trump himself has offered only the vaguest of updates. After a lengthy phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping on September 20, Trump told reporters, “We have great American patriots that are buying it—very, very substantial people, people that love our country. And they’re very smart technologically, and they will not let anything bad happen to TikTok.” He also described Xi as “a gentleman” and said, “It’s all being worked out. We’re going to have very good control.”
Still, questions abound. The Chinese government’s statement after the Trump-Xi call did not clarify whether Beijing had agreed to a sale of a controlling stake or the transfer of TikTok’s prized algorithm. According to reporting from the Financial Times and Gizmodo, Chinese officials have floated the idea of licensing the algorithm to a U.S. company rather than selling it outright—a move that would likely conflict with the PAFACAA’s requirements and continue to raise national security concerns.
Those concerns are not hypothetical. As The New Yorker put it, “The Chinese-owned social-media app was banned by Congress because of national-security concerns, but the President seems more interested in leveraging its future for his personal gain.” Lawmakers and intelligence officials have warned that TikTok’s data collection practices, combined with its Chinese ownership, could allow Beijing to access sensitive information about millions of Americans or manipulate what they see on the platform. While TikTok has taken steps to store U.S. user data on American soil, skepticism remains high in Washington.
The political calculus is complicated by TikTok’s immense popularity. The app, launched internationally in September 2016, now boasts 1.5 billion monthly active users worldwide and nearly 136 million users in the United States as of January 2024. According to MishTalk, TikTok is the fastest-growing social media app globally, having been downloaded over 3 billion times and translated into 39 languages. The majority of its content creators are between 18 and 24 years old, making it a powerful force among younger voters. As one commentator put it, “Trump does not want to upset 136 million TikTok users in the US.”
The numbers are staggering: ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, was valued at about $200 billion in 2023, with revenues of $29 billion in the second quarter of that year—a 40% year-on-year increase. TikTok and its Chinese counterpart, Douyin, now operate in 141 countries, reaching 91% of the global market. In China, Douyin claims 766 million daily active users as of September 2025.
Public opinion on a TikTok ban is shifting. A recent Pew Research Center survey found that about one-third of Americans supported a ban in 2025, down from 50% in March 2023. Of those who favored a ban, 80% cited concerns over data security. Yet, a similar share of Americans now oppose a ban or remain unsure, reflecting the platform’s deep integration into American social and cultural life.
Political expediency appears to be driving the administration’s approach. As MishTalk observed, “both parties look the other way on Trump’s flagrant violation of the law because no one in either party wants to upset 136 million TikTok users in the US.” The lack of outcry from Congress is telling. “If Congress has changed its mind, it should rescind the act. But no one wants to admit they made a mistake the first time,” the site noted.
For now, the White House maintains that a deal is imminent. “Now we just need this deal to be signed,” Leavitt said. “And that will be happening, I anticipate, in the coming days.” But with the deadline pushed back yet again and the details of any agreement still shrouded in mystery, many observers remain skeptical. As Gizmodo put it, “There’s no real pressure to get something done quickly, now that Trump has extended the deadline again until December. And if he’s extended it a fourth time with no real pushback from Congress, there’s no reason to think he couldn’t go for number five.”
In the end, the fate of TikTok in America may come down not to national security or legal principle, but to the raw realities of politics and public opinion. With so many users, so much money, and so much at stake, it’s no wonder that everyone—from the White House to Beijing to Silicon Valley—is playing for time. For now, TikTok’s future remains up in the air, and America’s 136 million users are left waiting to see what happens next.
