Trump signed EO 14310, third consecutive order directing DOJ not to enforce TikTok divestment law

On June 19, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14310, directing the Department of Justice not to enforce the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (PAFACA) against ByteDance or TikTok. The order was the third consecutive executive non-enforcement directive following EO 14166 (January 20, 2025) and EO 14258 (April 4, 2025). EO 14310 extended the non-enforcement window to September 17, 2025, and retroactively immunized all violations of the statute dating back to its January 19 deadline.

PAFACA was enacted by Congress with bipartisan support and signed by Trump himself the day before he took office. The law required ByteDance, a Chinese-owned company, to divest TikTok or cease US operations by January 19, 2025, on national security grounds. Rather than enforce the statute on his first day as president, Trump issued EO 14166 directing non-enforcement, and has issued successive orders at each expiration since. EO 14310 went a step further than its predecessors by asserting that state enforcement of PAFACA would constitute "an encroachment on the powers of the Executive" — effectively claiming presidential authority to block state-level enforcement of a federal law.

The June order established a pattern the administration would continue: a fourth non-enforcement directive, EO 14350, followed in September 2025. Each order extended retroactive immunity and reset the enforcement clock, creating an executive framework for indefinitely suspending statutory requirements without congressional consent or judicial review.