Here we go again. Another TikTok deadline is about to come and go, and investors who want to buy the app's U.S. operations say they're stuck in limbo while Washington decides whether to push the clock back one more time.

Frank McCourt told BBC News his group has money ready and is just waiting for the U.S. government to make up its mind. Spoiler alert: it looks like President Donald Trump is about to hit the snooze button again.

The Deadline That Never Arrives

The whole saga started with a 2024 law that gave ByteDance an ultimatum: sell TikTok's U.S. business or face a ban. Congress passed the measure after raising national security concerns, arguing that China could pressure ByteDance into handing over American user data.

TikTok and ByteDance have pushed back hard, saying those fears lack evidence and exaggerate how much control Beijing actually has. But that hasn't stopped Washington from keeping the threat alive—even if the actual deadline keeps sliding into the future.

The latest cutoff date is approaching fast, and the White House is reportedly weighing yet another extension. If Trump does delay again, it'll mark another chapter in a story that's become more about political theater than actual dealmaking.

Standing By With Cash in Hand

McCourt, who's leading the charge through his Project Liberty initiative, told BBC News he's "standing by" as the deadlines keep moving. His team says it has financing secured and can move quickly once there's clarity.

His vision? Force TikTok to either follow U.S. law or leave the market entirely. McCourt has also warned about the dangers of concentrated platform power and stressed that any ownership change should come with clear governance and legal safeguards.

Big Names, Few Specifics

Trump and his advisers have hinted at deals in the works before. They've mentioned "sophisticated" U.S. investors as potential buyers and even dropped some specific names—like Larry Ellison of Oracle Corp. (ORCL) and Michael Dell of Dell Technologies Inc. (DELL).

There was talk that a meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping might seal the deal. That meeting happened. Nothing was announced. And here we are.

The Beijing Problem

Here's the thing: neither ByteDance nor the Chinese government has publicly signed off on selling TikTok's U.S. operations. That's a pretty big obstacle. Analysts now expect another extension rather than any kind of near-term deal.

McCourt's consortium includes investors like Alexis Ohanian and Kevin O'Leary. Their plan would strip out Chinese technology entirely—including TikTok's famous recommendation algorithm. McCourt says Project Liberty has alternative technology ready to deploy instead.

So investors wait, deadlines drift, and TikTok keeps serving videos to millions of Americans while everyone argues about what happens next.