US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday granting TikTok a 90-day extension to continue operating in the United States, further postponing the potential national ban unless a deal is reached to sell the platform.

It marks the third time Trump has granted such a reprieve since the law mandating a divestiture was enacted. The new deadline is set for Sept 17.

TikTok welcomed the move, expressing appreciation for Trump's "leadership and support" in keeping the platform available to US users. The company said over 170 million users and 7.5 million businesses in the United States rely on the app.

Under a law passed last year, Byte-Dance, TikTok's Chinese parent company, must either sell its US operations or shut down by Jan 19 this year. The law allowed a 100-day extension if a sale was actively in progress.

TikTok and a group of users filed a legal challenge last May, arguing the law violated their First Amendment rights. However, a federal appeals court upheld the legislation in December, and the Supreme Court unanimously ruled on Jan 17 to let the law stand.

TikTok briefly went offline and was removed from US app stores on Jan 18, just before the law took effect. But it resumed operations hours later after Trump signed an executive order on Jan 20, his first day in office, directing the attorney general to pause enforcement of the ban for 75 days. The app was returned to the Google and Apple app stores on Feb 13.

That initial extension expired on April 5. In the lead-up, several parties expressed interest in acquiring Tik-Tok. At the time, White House officials appeared optimistic about spinning off TikTok into a US-controlled entity. However, talks reportedly fell through.

On April 6, Trump granted another 90-day extension, pushing the deadline to June 19, allowing more time for negotiations.

Dario Garcia de Viedma, a digital policy expert in Spain, told Euronews that the TikTok issue is being intertwined with other trade matters, such as tariffs and export controls. He suggested that a straightforward resolution would be unlikely.

There is currently no legal precedent limiting the number of times a president can extend such a deadline, and no lawsuits have been filed to challenge the extensions.

TikTok has repeatedly denied posing a national security risk, stating that US user data is not stored in China.

liazhu@chinadailyusa.com