President-elect Donald Trump took a years-long jab at the Chinese-owned social media app TikTok, culminating in an acknowledgment that he had saved the app on Sunday.

The first Trump administration initially proposed banning the app or forcing its sale to a non-Chinese owner, but the plan never came to fruition until President Biden took office in 2020. A bipartisan group of lawmakers approved the legislation in at that time and Biden signed it, establishing the ban. -o-sale deadline until January 19.

Until that point, Trump and other politicians agreed that TikTok posed a major threat to national security because it was owned by ByteDance, a company that depends on the Chinese Communist Party.

The app went dark briefly on Sunday, as no purchase agreement had been reached, only for Trump to step in and promise to push back the deadline.

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President-elect Donald Trump asked to push back the deadline for TikTok’s ban or sale date, which was initially set for January 19. (Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images/Getty Images)

As a result, TikTok’s 170 million US users received a message thanking Trump for his efforts to save the app.

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“Welcome back!” the TikTok message read. “Thank you for your patience and support. As a result of President Trump’s efforts, TikTok is back in the US!”

Earlier Sunday, Trump wrote on TRUTH Social that he is “asking companies not to let TikTok go dark.” He promised to extend the ban or sale deadline with an executive order Monday, though he did not offer details on the extension.

President Biden had allowed a bill to ban or sell TikTok to move forward under his administration. (Reuters)

“By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands and let it (keep). Without US approval, there is no TikTok. With our approval, it’s worth hundreds of billions of dollars, maybe trillions,” Trump . he wrote “So my initial thinking is a joint venture between the current owners and/or new owners whereby the US gets 50% ownership in a joint venture created between the US and any purchase we choose.”

Trump’s renewed support for TikTok came after the company’s CEO, Shou Chew, visited the president-elect at his Mar-a-Lago home in December.

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TikTok later released another statement from its account on X, again thanking the incoming president.

TikTok welcomed users to the social media platform after President-elect Trump vowed to push through an executive order delaying the ban. (Reuters / Reuters Photos)

“We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and certainty to our service providers that they will not face any penalties for providing TikTok to more than 170 million Americans and allowing more than 7 million small businesses prosper,” the statement said. “It’s a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship. We will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States.”

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Despite the extension, ByteDance has repeatedly turned down offers to sell the app. The company hasn’t thought about whether it would support shared ownership like the one Trump described.

Danielle Wallace of Fox Business contributed to this report.