Trump Admin Says TikTok Will ‘Go Dark’ If China Doesn’t Give Up Control Before Sept. 17 Deadline

July 25, 2025 by Aaron Keenan in Politics with 0 Comments

Trump Admin Says TikTok Will ‘Go Dark’ If China Doesn’t Give Up Control Before Sept. 17 Deadline

TikTok might be on its way out.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick made it clear during an interview with CNBC that TikTok will be banned in the U.S. unless its parent company, ByteDance, cuts ties with China. “We’ve made the decision. You can’t have Chinese control and have something on 100 million American phones,” Lutnick said. “Then TikTok is going to go dark.”

The pressure comes from a 2024 law passed by Congress that gives TikTok until September 17 to be sold or face a ban. The law followed growing fears that the Chinese government could access U.S. user data or manipulate what Americans see on the app.

President Donald Trump has already extended the deadline three times since taking office in January, saying last month that a group of “very wealthy people” are ready to buy TikTok’s U.S. business. But so far, no names have been revealed.