TikTok has returned to Apple and Google app stores in the U.S. after former President Donald Trump signed an executive order delaying enforcement of a law that would have banned the app unless its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, divested its U.S. operations. The app became available for download again Thursday evening, nearly a month after it was removed following a Supreme Court ruling upholding the law.
The law, signed by then-President Joe Biden in April 2024, required ByteDance to sell TikTok's U.S. business to an American or allied owner by Jan. 19 or face removal from app stores and internet service providers. TikTok shut down its service temporarily on Jan. 18 in response to the looming deadline, a move that removed the app from both Apple's App Store and Google Play.
"I will issue an executive order on Monday to extend the period of time before the law's prohibitions take effect, so that we can make a deal to protect our national security," Trump posted on Truth Social on Jan. 19, one day before taking office. He later signed the order on Jan. 20, extending the law's deadline by 75 days to April 5.
The extension comes as Trump signals an openness to keeping TikTok operational in the U.S., provided that a new ownership structure can be arranged. He "would like the United States to have a 50% ownership position in a joint venture in order to save TikTok, keep it in good hands, and allow it to stay up," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
TikTok had argued that the law violated the First Amendment rights of its more than 170 million U.S. users, while the U.S. government maintained that ByteDance's ownership and its alleged ties to China posed a national security risk. The Supreme Court sided with the Biden administration in January, stating, "Congress has determined that divestiture is necessary to address its well-supported national security concerns regarding TikTok's data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary."
Despite its removal from app stores, TikTok retained roughly 90% of its pre-ban traffic in the U.S., according to Cloudflare Radar data cited by CNBC. The app's return to Apple and Google Play allows new users to download it again, restoring full access across the platform.
Apple and Google had removed TikTok from their stores to comply with the law but had not blocked users who had already downloaded the app from continuing to use it. Other ByteDance-owned apps, including Lemon8 and CapCut, were also affected by the removal but have since returned alongside TikTok.
Oracle, which provides cloud infrastructure for TikTok's U.S. operations, as well as Apple and Google, could have faced financial penalties for continuing to support the app under the law. The statute imposed fines of up to $5,000 per user if tech companies facilitated access to TikTok after the ban took effect.
Trump, who had previously taken a hardline stance against TikTok, acknowledged a shift in his position after taking office. "And remember, TikTok is largely about kids, young kids," Trump said when asked about the decision in the Oval Office. "If China is going to get information about young kids out of it, to be honest, I think we have bigger problems than that."
Trump also suggested that he had ultimate authority over TikTok's future in the U.S. "I have the right to either sell it or close it, and we'll make that determination," he told reporters.
With the new April 5 deadline in place, TikTok's long-term fate in the U.S. remains uncertain. ByteDance has yet to indicate whether it will pursue a sale or take further legal action to challenge the law.
