TikTok Gets 75-Day Reprieve From US Ban Under Trump Executive Order

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday delaying the U.S.’s ban on TikTok by 75 days, giving the Chinese-owned social media app time to find a U.S. buyer.

“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,” Trump’s order said. 

The grace period caps a few volatile days for the app, which has 170 million U.S. users. It briefly went “dark” over the weekend after the Supreme Court upheld a law Friday requiring its Chinese parent ByteDance sell the app or shut it down on national security grounds. Services were restored hours later, however, when Trump, on the eve of his inauguration, announced his plan for the executive order.

“I think the U.S. should be entitled to get half of TikTok,” Trump said while signing the executive order Monday.

China Reportedly Has Mulled TikTok Sale to Musk

Though Chinese officials prefer that TikTok stay under ByteDance’s control, they also have discussed options including allowing a “trusted non-Chinese party” such as Elon Musk to buy the app’s U.S. operations, according to reports last week.

TikTok and the Chinese embassy in Washington didn’t immediately respond to Investopedia requests for comment.

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew attended Trump’s inauguration and was seated next to Tulsi Gabbard, who is nominated to serve as director of national intelligence, The Wall Street Journal reported.