• Trump expresses willingness to extend TikTok divestment deadline beyond June 19.
• The extension is contingent on reaching a deal acceptable to all parties involved.
• Concerns about legal authority to extend the deadline have been raised by Democratic senators.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced his intention to extend the June 19 deadline for China-based ByteDance to divest TikTok's U.S. assets if a deal has not been reached by that time. He stated, "I would ... I’d like to see it done," emphasizing his favorable view towards the app that has engaged around 170 million Americans, particularly young voters in the 2024 election, according to scmp, channelnewsasia, and huffpost.

In a recent interview on NBC's "Meet the Press," Trump reiterated his belief that the app needed protection and mentioned prior reprieves granted against a congressional mandate for its ban, which was set to initially take effect in January. This ban could be avoided only through a successful divestiture, he noted, as per reports from newsweek and indiatimes.

Despite Trump's optimism, Democratic senators have raised concerns regarding the legality of his authority to extend the deadline, suggesting that the proposed deal may not satisfy necessary legal standards, according to dawn and aa.

Trump's administration has been negotiating to establish a U.S.-based entity for TikTok's operations which would be majority-owned by American investors. However, these talks have been impacted by ongoing tariff disputes with China, with Trump indicating that the tariffs, now at 145%, have strained economic negotiations. He reluctantly stated that while he wouldn’t drop these tariffs to facilitate talks, he might lower them eventually as part of a broader agreement, as noted by trtglobal and scmp.