Amid an escalating series of national security scandals, President Donald Trump extended his delay of Congress’s mandated divestment or ban on the popular social media platform TikTok by another 75 days—framing the move as evidence that his widely criticized and market-disrupting tariff policies are a “powerful” and necessary tool for safeguarding national security.

Trump claimed on Friday that his administration has been “working very hard” to save TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. Congress determined the platform represents a threat to national security when it passed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (PAFACA) in April 2024.

Critics have been warning that ByteDance could send TikTok’s extensive user data to China, something the European Union reportedly is in the process of fining the company for allegedly doing.

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ByteDance “is set to be hit by a privacy fine of more than €500 million ($552 million) for illegally shipping European users’ data to China, adding to the growing global backlash over the video-sharing app,” Bloomberg reported on Thursday. “Ireland’s data protection commission, the company’s main regulator in Europe, will issue the penalty against TikTok before the end of the month, according to people familiar with the matter.”

Ignoring national security warnings—and amid questions about the legality of overriding Congress’s mandate— President Trump made his announcement:

“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, which is why I am signing an Executive Order to keep TikTok up and running for an additional 75 days. We hope to continue working in Good Faith with China, who I understand are not very happy about our Reciprocal Tariffs (Necessary for Fair and Balanced Trade between China and the U.S.A.!).”

“This proves that Tariffs are the most powerful Economic tool, and very important to our National Security! We do not want TikTok to ‘go dark.’ We look forward to working with TikTok and China to close the Deal. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

The White House has repeatedly asserted that President Trump’s sweeping global tariffs are non-negotiable—only for Trump to suggest otherwise when it suits his agenda.

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“You have a situation with TikTok where China will probably say: ‘We’ll approve a deal, but will you do something on the tariffs?'” Trump told reporters on Thursday, as Reuters reported. “We could use tariffs in order to get something in return.”

There does not appear to be any set deal, despite Trump’s claims to the contrary.

Late last month, attorney Raffi Melkonian wrote: “The President can’t just say a law, however dumb, doesn’t apply anymore. But here we are.”

Friday afternoon, he added: “Re the nonexistent TikTok deal – people didn’t really glom onto this because no one cares about the business of golf, but Trump tried to put together a deal merging the two rival leagues – literally jawboning them in the Oval Office -and said it was done, and totally nothing happened.”

“Lying about business deals is just what he does and you can’t take anything he says about them remotely seriously,” he charged.

Jennifer Huddleston, a senior fellow in technology policy at the Cato Institute, commented that Trump’s executive order hitting the “snooze button on the TikTok divest or ban for 75 more days. … doesn’t settle the underlying questions about speech v national security, what a divestment looks like, & how the law could apply beyond TikTok.”

There have been bipartisan concerns and criticism of President Trump’s delay extension.

“This additional extension is a mistake,” warned Advancing American Freedom, former Vice President Mike Pence’s organization. “TikTok is not a harmless social media platform — it is spyware used by the CCP to spy on the American people. This is a critical matter of national security. TikTok must divest its Chinese ownership or be banned.”

U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) wrote: “TikTok’s Beijing ownership is a clear national security risk. Trump should no longer delay enforcing the requirement, under the law passed by Congress, for its divestment from foreign adversaries.”

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President Donald Trump is under fire for choosing to skip the dignified transfer of four U.S. soldiers who died during a training mission in Lithuania—opting instead to jet from D.C. to Florida to attend the Saudi-owned LIV men’s professional golf tournament, while the nation of Lithuania, including its President, held ceremonies honoring the fallen Americans.

“Lithuania’s political and religious leaders joined thousands of people on Thursday to bid farewell to four American soldiers who died during a training exercise in the Baltic nation,” the Associated Press reported. “President Gitanas Nausėda and other dignitaries were among those who stood in respect as hearses carried the bodies of the four young Americans to Vilnius airport before being flown to the United States for burial.”

Some in the U.S. had already been offended when the Commander-in-Chief, asked about the four soldiers who were missing but not confirmed dead, told a reporter that he was unaware of the situation.

“Have you been briefed about the soldiers in Lithuania? Who are missing?” the reporter asked. Appearing both uninformed and unconcerned, Trump simply replied, “No I haven’t.”

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After a lengthy search, all four were found and identified.

Dignified transfers of American service members who have died are solemn events often closed to the media. Presidents do not attend each, but occasionally do when multiple service members have died.

“President Trump will remain in Florida and will not travel to Dover AFB for the dignified transfer of 4 American soldiers who died during a training exercise in Lithuania,” Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin reported Friday. “The LIV Golf tournament begins today. Trump just arrived at his golf club. Defense Secretary Hegseth will travel to Dover Air Force Base mid-morning to participate in the dignified transfer of four U.S. soldiers who died last week in Lithuania.”

Late Friday morning Punchbowl News senior congressional reporter Andrew Desiderio wrote that a “group of senators is attending the dignified transfer in Dover today of the four U.S. troops who died during a training exercise in Lithuania, per sources. The group includes Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin and Sens. Duckworth & Coons. Others may be attending as well.” The names mentioned are all Democrats.

Lithuania had gone to great lengths to honor the four soldiers.

After a week of posting updates to social media on the search for the U.S. soldiers, the Lithuanian Ministry of National Defense has been posting tributes this week.

On Friday, in a post with photos, they wrote: “Today, Lithuania honoured and bid farewell to the four US soldiers who tragically lost their lives in Pabradė. We will never forget them. The people of Lithuania prayed relentlessly for their fate, as we feel profound solidarity and regard American soldiers as our own.”

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In another post they added: “We bid farewell to the fallen U.S. soldiers with respect and gratitude. Because, as we have said many times, they are our soldiers too. In this moment of tragedy, we stood together. It is a testament to the strength of unity even in the darkest times.”

Lithuania’s Embassy in Washington, D.C. also expressed sorrow and unity, “For the Lithuanian people it feels like a loss of our own. In this difficult moment, our thoughts and prayers are with the fallen and their loved ones. We mourn together with the [American] nation.”

Lithuania honored and bid farewell to the fallen U.S. soldiers. For the Lithuanian people it feels like a loss of our own.

In this difficult moment, our thoughts and prayers are with the fallen and their loved ones. We mourn together with the 🇺🇸 nation.pic.twitter.com/dRiNRYTTK4

— Embassy of Lithuania in DC | #StandWithUkraine (@LTembassyUS) April 3, 2025

The U.S. Embassy to Lithuania also honored the fallen, thanking “everyone who contributed to bringing them home.”

“Today,” the U.S. Embassy to Lithuania’s social media post read, “Lithuania paid homage to our fallen with a solemn and dignified farewell. In the heart of Vilnius, leaders, Allies, and many supporters gathered in remembrance, honoring the four U.S. Soldiers who are finally returning to their families.”

“In this time of profound sorrow, we are reminded of the indomitable bond between our nations. The compassion, respect, and unwavering support demonstrated by Lithuania and all who stood with us will echo for years to come.”

“To our Allies, fellow service members, and everyone who contributed to bringing them home—our deepest gratitude,” it concluded.

Today, Lithuania paid homage to our fallen with a solemn and dignified farewell. In the heart of Vilnius, leaders, Allies, and many supporters gathered in remembrance, honoring the four U.S. Soldiers who are finally returning to their families.

In this time of profound sorrow,… pic.twitter.com/8FPtNWvlZP

— U.S. Embassy Vilnius (@USEmbVilnius) April 3, 2025

One social media commentator seemed to sum up the thoughts of several users, writing: “When our allies show more respect and honor for fallen U.S. servicemen than the President of the United States, this is what it looks like. It’s shameful their own President can’t be bothered.”

Other critics continued to blast President Trump.

“Trump goes off to golf. Meanwhile, our allies lined the streets to pay their respects,” remarked The Atlantic’s Tom Nichols, a retired U.S. Naval College professor.

Moe Davis, the retired U.S. Air Force colonel, attorney, educator, and former administrative law judge, slammed Trump, writing that the President “skips today’s dignified transfer in Delaware of the remains of 4 U.S. service members who died in Lithuania in order to attend a Saudi Arabia Blood Money Golf Tour dinner in Florida that pays him millions of dollars.”

See the social media posts above or at this link.

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In a series of unhinged missives, President Donald Trump is declaring victory—ignoring the toll on American families and businesses of all sizes after U.S. markets lost $3.1 trillion on Thursday. The plunge, one of the largest in history, has been widely attributed to his heavily criticized tariff package, which has triggered outrage both domestically and internationally.

“To the many investors coming into the United States and investing massive amounts of money, my policies will never change. This is a great time to get rich, richer than ever before!!!” Trump proclaimed Friday morning in an all-caps post, just before the markets again took a massive nose dive, and after China announced it would impose a 34% tariff on U.S. goods.

Politico’s Meredith Lee Hill described China’s tariffs as “crippling.”

Trump’s promise that his policies will “never change” is an apparent walk-back of his (and his son’s) suggestion that he would be open to negotiation, something the White House spent much of Thursday denying.

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“This is… definitely not the message investors wanted from the President this morning,” wrote CNBC’s D.C. correspondent Megan Cassella.

Trump’s vow to stay the course came after Fox News pundits and guests had spent much of Thursday insisting Trump would negotiate on tariffs, and urging him to do so on Friday morning.

The President, who has been vacationing in Florida, attended a LIV golf tour dinner Thursday and is hosting the Saudi-owned professional men’s golf tournament this weekend, was quick to falsely suggest his tariffs were responsible for what analysts see as the surprisingly good jobs report that was released Friday morning.

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“Great job numbers, far better than expected. It’s already working. Hang tough, we can’t lose!!! Trump wrote just before the Dow opened and quickly dropped another 1000 points. The jobs report, which is reflective of the month of March, has nothing to do with Trump’s tariff imposition on Thursday.

“I think it’s going very well—The MARKETS are going to BOOM…” Trump posted Thursday, minutes before the Dow closed down nearly 1700 points.

The panic was obvious on Fox Business Friday morning.

“The economy was good. Everything was fine,” lamented Gerald Storch, CEO of Storch Advisors. “Now there’s this blinding light, like a giant searchlight, staring at everyone with these tariffs, and these are these numbers aren’t gonna make any difference at all,” he said, apparently referring to the jobs report.

“What’s, what the market is worried about is what’s gonna happen in the future. Who’s gonna hire now in this uncertain environment? I think people are very, very concerned, and that’s why, again, we need to get to work. We need to act on negotiating now. We need to get tax cuts now. We need to get deregulation now to make a difference before this gets out of control the other way.”

Economic pundit Stephen Moore, a Trump 2016 campaign advisor, agreed, saying, “We want as quick a deal on this as soon as possible, because every country would benefit.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

Fox Business talking head on the economy adding 228k jobs in March: “What the market is worried about is what’s gonna happen in the future. Who’s gonna hire now in this uncertain environment? I think people are very, very concerned.” pic.twitter.com/LsXeYLyKqH

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 4, 2025

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