• President Donald Trump says he needs more time to determine if TikTok is a threat to national security in the US.
• As such, the law forcing TikTok to divest or be banned will not be put into force for the next 75 days.
• Trump has suggested that TikTok should hand over 50 percent of the company to the United States while also paying it 50 percent of the company’s value.

While TikTok cuddling up to Donald Trump may have earned it a few more days of unfettered operations, the social platform is still very much in danger of being pushed out of the US. At the weekend, the social network praised Trump for allowing TikTok to remain operational but that praise may have come too early.

On Monday after his inauguration, President Donald Trump signed a raft of executive orders. These orders covered a wide array from changing the name of a mountain and the Gulf of Mexico to granting clemency to rioters who charged the capital on 6th January 2020.

But many were interested in how Trump was going to save TikTok. The good news is that TikTok is still available in the US – despite a brief 12 hour shutdown – and will be for at least the next 75 days. Its worth mentioning that many believe ByteDance would be given 90 days to iron out the divest or leave order but Trump saw fit to only suspend the law that former President Joe Biden for 75 days.

In one of his first presidential actions, Trump noted that he and his administration needed more time to assess the concerns surrounding TikTok. The President noted that the timing of the Act coming into force and his entry into office interfered with his ability to accurately assess if TikTok presents a threat to national security.

To be clear, this doesn’t mean TikTok is off the hook, only that it and its service providers can’t face legal action in the ensuing 75 days.

“Accordingly, I am instructing the Attorney General not to take any action to enforce the Act for a period of 75 days from today to allow my Administration an opportunity to determine the appropriate course forward in an orderly way that protects national security while avoiding an abrupt shutdown of a communications platform used by millions of Americans,” wrote Trump.

However, in a voice clip, Trump is seen explaining to a journalist that the US government would take half of TikTok in order to continue operations in the US.

“You take 50 percent of TikTok for the approval of TikTok continuing business. And they’d have a great partner the US would be their partner. But the US would essentially be paid, for doing that, half of the value of TikTok,” Trump said.

Reporter: How would you get that 50%?

Trump: You take 50% of TikTok for the approval of TikTok continuing business. And they would have a great partner, the U.S. The US would be paid half of the value of TikTok pic.twitter.com/OquHgU46w8

— Acyn (@Acyn) January 21, 2025

The belief that TikTok would pay the US half of its value (which is estimated to be worth approximately $100 billion) while also surrendering half of its operations to the government is wild to say the least. It would also that TikTok is owned – albeit partially – by the US government, something that same government has accused China of doing, which lead to this mess in the first place.

Whether TikTok will take that deal is unclear but it sounds awful and we doubt any chief executive or board of directors worth their salt would be up for that. The US is among the top three territories for TikTok but giving up half of the company to placate a nation that represents just 12 percent of its user base is quite plainly a bad idea.

TikTok has until 5th April to make a deal with the Trump administration although it’s not clear what stance Trump will take once his research is done.