Trump delays TikTok ban yet again, signs executive order

We knew it was coming; TikTok still isn't banned — for now.

President Donald Trump said he signed an executive order on Thursday extending TikTok's deadline until Sept. 17.

"I’ve just signed the Executive Order extending the Deadline for the TikTok closing for 90 days," Trump wrote in a post on his social media platform Truth Social on Thursday. The executive order is yet to appear on the Federal Register.

For those of you keeping score at home, this is the third time Trump has extended the deadline for TikTok.

"We are grateful for President Trump's leadership and support in ensuring that TikTok continues to be available for more than 170 million American users and 7.5 million U.S. businesses that rely on the platform as we continue to work with Vice President Vance's Office," reads a statement issued by TikTok on Thursday.

We have access to the app in the U.S. through Sept. 17, at which time it looks like there are three options: Trump extends the deadline once again, TikTok actually gets banned in the U.S., or TikTok divests from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance.

It's not entirely surprising that Trump would extend TikTok's deadline; on June 18, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt previewed Trump's plans to delay TikTok's ban in a statement to CNN. In a May interview with Kristen Welker from NBC's Meet the Press that aired shortly after Trump announced the second TikTok ban extension, he said he'd consider delaying the TikTok ban for a third time if a deal isn't struck before the deadline.

"Perhaps I shouldn't say this, but I have a little warm spot in my heart for TikTok," Trump said.

This comes after the president delayed the TikTok ban in January and again in April, during which the U.S. and China battled it out over trade and tariffs.