United States President-elect Donald Trump said on Jan. 18 that he would “most likely” grant TikTok a 90-day extension to address a potential ban.

The app’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, faces a Jan. 19 deadline to sell its US operations to a non-Chinese buyer, as outlined by a bipartisan law enacted last year.

In a phone interview with NBC News, Trump said the decision may be announced on Jan. 20, coinciding with his administration’s inauguration.

The law allows the president to authorize a one-time 90-day extension if certain conditions are met, including a credible path to divestiture and significant progress toward legal agreements.

TikTok recently warned that it might go offline by Sunday unless it receives clearer legal assurances.

However, a White House spokesperson dismissed this warning as a “stunt,” stating that any actions related to TikTok’s compliance would be left to the new administration.

Recent TikTok developments