June 18 Is the New D-Day for TikTok in the U.S.

It's not over yet for TikTok in the U.S.—though it's definitely not smooth sailing either. On what was supposed to be D-Day for the app, the final day of its 75-day grace period before a potential ban, President Trump stepped in with a last-minute save. TikTok has now been granted another 75 days to sort out a deal, pushing the new deadline to June 18th.


This extension buys more time to resolve one of the most complicated tech stand-offs in recent memory. The U.S. wants TikTok to break up with its Chinese parent company ByteDance, citing national security concerns. Lawmakers fear the Chinese government could access U.S. user data through the app—a claim TikTok has consistently denied. But denial or not, Congress already passed a law that says: no U.S. ownership, no TikTok.

The workaround? The White House had floated a plan to create a new U.S.-based TikTok entity, mostly owned by American investors, with ByteDance keeping a minority stake of 19.9%. Instead of owning TikTok outright, the U.S. would license its algorithm—the ultra-addictive technology behind everyone's endless scrolling. That proposal seemed like it might make everyone happy, including the folks behind the "Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act."

Except China wasn't thrilled. In fact, they reportedly shut the whole thing down, refusing to approve any deal that included handing over TikTok's core technology. So, with the clock about to strike midnight, Trump signed an executive order to keep the negotiations alive.

Here's the twist: Trump can't technically extend the deadline. The law was passed before he returned to office, and TikTok is—on paper—already banned in the U.S. But through this executive order, Trump's preventing enforcement of the law. It's like saying, "Okay, it's illegal... but let's pretend it's not for just a little longer."

That legal gray area comes with risks. U.S. companies supporting TikTok—like Apple, Google, and Oracle—are theoretically liable for a $500 fine per user, per day. That's massive. Thankfully, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has given written assurances those penalties won't be enforced—for now.

So, for the moment, TikTok lives to dance another day in the U.S. But with June 18th looming, this drama seems far from over.

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