Under a US law, TikTok must be sold or banned in the US by September 17. Trump appears to have been stuck in a tough spot all year, because the final terms of the deal may not allow current owner ByteDance to own more than 20 percent of the platform or maintain any control over TikTok's algorithm or data-sharing practices.

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.