Lutnick is referring to the potential deal to sell the majority of TikTok to U.S. investors, which President Trump recently said was all but done, with the buyer being "secured" on the U.S. side. Trump did say at the time that China has to approve such a deal, and now it seems his administration is running out of patience.

TikTok will “go dark” if China does not cut a deal with the Trump administration that transfers control of the app’s technology and algorithm, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Thursday. Trump Says It Is ‘Not Do-able’ for AI Companies to Pay for All Copyrighted Content Used in Training Models

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on July 24 that if China does not accept a deal from the U.S. to sell the app, TikTok will go dark again.