By Clare Duffy | CNN
New York — TikTok users may be experiencing some déjà vu this week. The popular short-form video app’s future is once again uncertain as a potential ban in the United States could be just days away.
TikTok’s parent company ByteDance is on the hook to sell the app’s US operations by April 5, after President Donald Trump extended the deadline in January, or face a ban in the United States. What happens on — or ahead of — Saturday will have significant implications for the 170 million Americans who use TikTok to find news, entertainment, community, and, in some cases, to make a living.
Many questions remain about the state of a potential deal, but loyal TikTok users have reason to be optimistic. Several interested parties have raised their hands to potentially buy the app, and Trump has expressed a desire to help facilitate a deal and preserve access to the platform.
“We have a lot of potential buyers, there’s tremendous interest in TikTok. The decision is going to be my decision,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One Sunday. “I’d like to see TikTok remain alive.”
Here’s what we know about what TikTok’s future could look like as the sale-or-ban deadline fast approaches.
How did we get here?
Then-President Joe Biden passed a law last year requiring ByteDance to sell the app’s US operations or face a TikTok ban in the United States. US lawmakers have long been concerned that TikTok poses a national security risk because its China-based parent company could be forced to hand over US user data, or manipulate the app’s algorithm, at the behest of the Chinese government.
In January, TikTok took itself offline for about 14 hours — and app stores removed access to the platform in the United States — after the law’s initial sale-or-ban deadline passed with no deal.
But TikTok restored US users’ access after Trump promised to postpone the deadline. The day he took office, Trump extended the ban deadline by 75 days, hoping to help broker a deal for the app to be sold to an American owner. App stores also restored access to TikTok in February.
It was Trump who first tried to ban TikTok during his previous administration but said he changed his mind after he “got to use it.”
In January, Trump also questioned the national security concerns surrounding the app, saying, “Is it that important for China to be spying on young people? On young kids watching crazy videos?”
Who could buy TikTok?
Several prominent bidders have emerged as potential buyers for the platform’s US operations.
They include a group led by billionaire former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt and “Shark Tank”-famous investor Kevin O’Leary; another group that includes social media influencer Jimmy Donaldson (aka MrBeast) and Employer.com founder Jesse Tinsley; and AI firm Perplexity.
Multiple news outlets, including Politico, NPR and Bloomberg, have also reported that Oracle — TikTok’s current US technology partner — is a top contender to take over the app’s US operations. Such a deal could reportedly involve ByteDance retaining some stake in TikTok, as well as increased investment from the company’s existing American investors, such as General Atlantic and Susquehanna.
Oracle did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.
Trump has also raised the possibility that a newly proposed US sovereign wealth fund could acquire part or all of the app, although he didn’t offer details on how such an arrangement would work.
Will there be a deal by April 5?
Vice President JD Vance — who Trump tapped to oversee the potential TikTok deal along with national security adviser Michael Waltz — said on March 14 that there would “almost certainly” be an agreement that would preserve US users’ access to the app by the April 5 deadline.
“There will almost certainly be a high-level agreement that I think satisfies our national security concerns, allows there to be a distinct American TikTok enterprise,” Vance said in an interview with NBC News, although he acknowledged that formally completing such a deal could take more time.
The law requires Trump to certify that a “qualified divestiture” of TikTok has taken place and the app is no longer controlled by ByteDance, which it designates as a “foreign adversary” controlled company.According to the law, ByteDance can own no more than 20% of the platform. It also states that the app’s US operations can not have any coordination with ByteDance when it comes to its algorithm or data sharing practices.
Trump said earlier in March that he would “probably” extend the TikTok deadline further if a deal isn’t reached by April 5. But Vance told NBC that “we’d like to get it done without the extension.” Trump on Sunday reiterated that he expected a deal to be reached ahead of the deadline.
Still, as the deadline approaches, there has been little public indication that ByteDance or the Chinese government are open to a sale.
In recent days, Trump has tried to sweeten the deal by suggesting that he could reduce tariffs on Chinese imports as part of a TikTok sale.
“One point in tariffs with China … would probably be worth more than all of TikTok, as valuable as TikTok is,” Trump told reporters Monday. “Maybe I’ll take a couple of points off (of tariffs) if I get approval for something. I haven’t done it, maybe I’ll do it.”
Scott Sutton, CEO of influencer marketing firm Later, said he anticipates an extension of the ban, likely playing out in one of two ways.
“Either there will be an announcement that a ‘specific deal is in progress,’ or we’ll receive a generic statement from the current administration indicating they are working with interested parties, but cannot disclose the details,” Sutton said in an email.
If there’s no deal, will TikTok go dark again?
Whether TikTok again shuts itself down in the United States will likely depend on what Trump says about the deal process.
If there is no deal, TikTok’s technology partners — including Apple, Google and Oracle — could technically be on the hook for major fines if they continue to support the app. But if Trump indicates that he will direct the Justice Department not to enforce the law, those firms may feel confident enough to continue supporting TikTok in the United States.
TikTok has sought to cozy up to Trump, likely in hopes of securing his support. After TikTok came back online in January, it displayed a notification to US users that credited “President Trump’s efforts” for its restoration.
Trump has also suggested he could extend the deadline if a deal is not reached in time. It’s not clear that a second extension would fall within the letter of the sale-or-ban law, but because the law grants wide latitude to the president over enforcement, it could be hard to challenge in court.
The-CNN-Wire
& © 2025 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.