The US push to force TikTok's sale or ban it, from state bans to the 2025 deal

South Dakota banned TikTok on state devices in November 2022, warning of a security threat.^[7] The FBI director raised national security concerns,^[1] and Congress banned it on federal government devices that December.^[2] In March 2023 the Biden administration demanded that TikTok's Chinese owners sell their stakes or face a ban,^[8] and lawmakers grilled its chief executive at a House hearing.^[9] Montana banned the app statewide that spring, and TikTok sued.^[10][11]

In March 2024 the House passed a bill that could ban TikTok,^[12] and in April Congress included a version of it in a foreign aid package that the Senate passed by a wide margin.^[13][3] TikTok sued to block it,^[14] a federal appeals court upheld the law in December,^[15] and Trump asked the Supreme Court to delay the ban so that he could weigh in after taking office.^[16] The court upheld the law in January 2025.^[4]

TikTok briefly went dark before restoring service on the strength of Trump's promise to suspend the ban,^[17][18] and it returned to US app stores in February.^[19] Trump said China would approve a deal quickly if he cut tariffs,^[20] and in December 2025 TikTok signed a deal to sell its US business to three investors.^[5] In January 2026 it finalized the deal, forming a new American company.^[6]