THIS ISN’T LEGAL: Trump extends deadline for US TikTok sale to September.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday extended to September 17 a deadline for China-based ByteDance to divest the U.S. assets of short-video app TikTok despite a law that mandated a sale or shutdown without significant progress.
Trump signed an executive order pushing back Thursday’s deadline for 90 days, a step he had previously signaled.
The Republican president had already twice granted a reprieve from federal enforcement of a law that mandated the sale or shutdown of TikTok that was supposed to take effect in January, absent significant progress toward a sale.
Trump has said he wants to keep the app, which helped him woo young voters in the 2024 presidential election, active in the U.S.
That’s nice, but it still isn’t legal:
Just days before Trump 47 resumed office, SCOTUS upheld the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act. The law gave ByteDance until January 19 (270 days from enactment) to find a buyer, but granted POTUS the power to grant a single, 90-day extension. Trump granted it, giving ByteDance until April 19. Then — and this was illegal — Trump granted another extension, giving ByteDance until June 19.
“Essentially with TikTok I have the right to sell it or close it,” Trump claimed when he issued the extension. “That’s wrong,” the Free Press reminded readers this week. “Trump doesn’t have a right to sell or ban the app but an obligation.”
Why won’t Trump 47 enforce the law Trump 45 lobbied for?
I asked that question two weeks ago and there’s still no answer.