President Donald Trump announced April 4, the day before a looming potential TikTok shutdown, that he will sign a second executive order to enact another 75-day pause on a TikTok ban. 

The order means the Trump administration will continue not to enforce the 2024 legislation passed by a bipartisan Congress and signed by President Joe Biden that would eventually ban TikTok unless it is sold to a U.S. company.

"My Administration has been working very hard on a Deal to SAVE TIKTOK, and we have made tremendous progress. The Deal requires more work to ensure all necessary approvals are signed," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "We do not want TikTok to 'go dark.' We look forward to working with TikTok and China to close the Deal."

Trump said he hopes to strike a deal with China, although the country is not happy about reciprocal tariffs which he announced April 2. 

The White House website did not immediately post the executive order.

As the app has gained U.S. popularity, TikTok's potential vulnerability to the Chinese Communist Party has vexed U.S. officials. Most criticism centers on national security risks posed by the app's data collection, which ranges from users' email addresses to messages sent within the app and keystroke patterns. 

In 2023, experts told us that banning TikTok would not eliminate China's access to U.S. social media user data,because similar data from other apps would still be available for purchase through third-party brokers.

ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, is a privately owned company that says 60% of its owners are global investors. Its Chinese cofounders have a 20% ownership share, and its employees own 20%.

Trump told reporters last year, "We love TikTok. I'm going to save TikTok." That was a reversal from his stance in 2020 when he sought a ban on TikTok, citing national security concerns.

Saving TikTok is one of 75 campaign promises he made that PolitiFact is tracking on the MAGA-Meter. Over the next four years, we will periodically evaluate the new administration's progress on Trump's 2024 campaign promises, just as we did with Barack Obama, Trump during his first term and Joe Biden.

We rated Trump's progress as in the Works on Jan. 20, his first day in office, when he signed the first 75-day ban which was set to expire this weekend. His new order leaves this promise at In the Works.

RELATED: Tracking Donald Trump's complete position change on banning TikTok in the US

On his first day in office, President Donald Trump issued an executive order to pause the TikTok ban for 75 days. 

Trump's order says the attorney general "shall not take any action to enforce the Act" passed by Congress. That will give Trump's administration "an opportunity to determine the appropriate course of action." 

The attorney general, Trump wrote, will issue written guidance to apply the order.

Before the inauguration, Trump floated the idea of the United States having "a 50% ownership position in a joint venture" with TikTok. He reiterated that possibility as he signed the order. ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, is a privately owned company that says 60% of its owners are global investors. Its Chinese cofounders have a 20% ownership share, and its employees own 20%.

Trump told reporters last year, "We love TikTok. I'm going to save TikTok." Saving TikTok is one of 75 Trump campaign promises we are tracking on our MAGA-Meter.

TikTok, a popular video app with 170 million U.S. users, shut down shortly before midnight Jan. 19, following a Jan. 17 U.S. Supreme Court decision to uphold bipartisan legislation requiring the company's sale to a U.S. company. But hours later, amid Trump's vows to save it, TikTok was back online for many U.S. users.

During his first presidency, Trump tried to ban TikTok, but during the 2024 presidential campaign, he changed his tune, repeatedly speaking against a ban. This position change met PolitiFact's definition of a Full Flop. 

Trump's executive order might not withstand legal challenges, legal experts said.

Kate Klonick, a  St. John's University law professor, said Trump has the authority to tell the Justice Department and attorney general to pursue nonenforcement. 

"The DOJ (theoretically) follows the orders of the executive, so there will be no fines enforced during this period," Klonick said. "But this is a little like the Sheriff telling his police officers not to issue tickets for speeding … if an officer DOES decide to issue a ticket for speeding and it goes to a judge, then a policy of non-enforcement gets a lot more complicated. 

She continued, "It's a wink and a handshake to not enforce hundreds of billions in potential fines required under U.S. law. Judging that risk assessment will be up to Apple, Oracle, and Google lawyers, among other companies."

Ryan Goodman, a New York University Law professor, said it is risky to count on an extension being upheld in court. 

Goodman pointed to a statement by Republican Sens. Tom Cotton of Oklahoma and Pete Ricketts of Nebraska who said, "Now that the law has taken effect, there's no legal basis for any kind of 'extension' of its effective date." 

Our task is to evaluate Trump's progress on his promise to "save" TikTok. He took the first step by signing an executive order, but we will monitor to see whether it withstands legal challenges. For now, we rate this promise In the Works. 

RELATED: Tracking Donald Trump's complete position change on banning TikTok in the US

RELATED: All of Trump's promises PolitiFact is tracking on the MAGA-Meter