U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to sign another executive order granting the popular social media app TikTok an additional 90 days before a ban takes effect, marking the third delay since Trump returned to office in January 2025.

The White House confirmed on Tuesday 17 June that the President would sign the new order this week.

“President Trump will sign an additional executive order this week to keep TikTok up and running,” said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt in a statement to the press.

“As he has said many times, President Trump does not want TikTok to go dark. This extension will last 90 days, which the administration will spend working to ensure this deal is closed so that the American people can continue to use TikTok with the assurance that their data is safe and secure.”

The extension adds to the ongoing controversy surrounding TikTok in the United States, which is owned by Chinese technology firm ByteDance. The White House continues to express national security concerns over potential Chinese government access to U.S. user data through the app.

This latest move, however, appears to contradict the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, passed in April 2024.

The law required ByteDance to sell its U.S. TikTok operations by January 19, 2025, and allowed only one 90-day extension (a grace period the administration had already used earlier in the year. The new order would be a second extension beyond the legal framework established by the Act.

According to Reuters, TikTok has not yet announced a buyer for its U.S. assets. Negotiations reportedly stalled in April following the Trump administration’s imposition of new tariffs on Chinese goods.

In response, China withheld the necessary regulatory approvals for any sale to proceed.

The new extension delays TikTok’s ban potentially until mid-September. Meanwhile, President Trump himself boasts a TikTok following of over 15 million users.