Will Trump ever ban TikTok now that he says he's a fan of the app?

Many people who were hoping that TikTok would be banned for good in the US are now questioning if their dreams would ever come true. After all, Trump has made another positive comment about TikTok.

What's more, the President has downplayed national security and privacy concerns surrounding TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance, calling them "highly overrated". So, he intends to continue granting extensions that allow the app to operate in the United States. He has done that several times already.

The first extension came on January 20, his first day in office, when he issued an executive order to restore access to TikTok after the platform briefly went dark following a court-approved national ban. A second extension in April followed negotiations to spin off TikTok into a U.S.-controlled company. That plan collapsed after China withdrew from the talks in response to new tariff measures announced by Trump.

As I'm sure you already know, Congress approved a ban on TikTok unless ByteDance divested its controlling stake. Although the deadline for a sale has been extended three times during Trump’s second term, another deadline is set to arrive on September 17. Trump has made clear that he is prepared to push the decision further back while buyers and negotiations remain in flux.



Despite repeatedly framing security as a priority, Trump has also highlighted TikTok's popularity and acknowledged his own use of the platform during his campaign. The White House even launched its own TikTok account this week, underscoring the app's growing political relevance.

Public opinion on TikTok remains sharply divided, some reports claim. A Pew Research Center survey found that only about one-third of Americans now support banning TikTok, compared with half of respondents in March 2023. Roughly another third oppose a ban outright, while the remaining share remain undecided.