TikTok Chief Executive Kevin Mayer Resigns

SAN FRANCISCO — Kevin Mayer, the chief executive of the Chinese-owned video app TikTok, said on Wednesday that he was resigning after the company came under sustained pressure from the Trump administration over its ties to China.

In a note to employees, which was reviewed by The New York Times, Mr. Mayer said a series of changes to TikTok’s structure had prompted him to leave. The app, which is owned by the Chinese internet company ByteDance, has been ordered by the White House to sell its U.S. operations by mid-September. Mr. Mayer, 58, did not address the specific timing of his departure.

“In recent weeks, as the political environment has sharply changed, I have done significant reflection on what the corporate structural changes will require, and what it means for the global role I signed up for,” he wrote in the email. “Against this backdrop, and as we expect to reach a resolution very soon, it is with a heavy heart that I wanted to let you all know that I have decided to leave the company.”

Mr. Mayer, who announced in May that he would join TikTok, added that he had signed up for a global role and that leading a global team had been a “big draw” for him.

His departure underscores the difficulties facing TikTok as it has become a geopolitical piñata amid worsening U.S.-China tensions. As part of a campaign of being tough on China, President Trump and other White House officials have zeroed in on technology companies, which they say are beholden to the Chinese government through security laws. In recent months, the Trump administration has stepped up its scrutiny of TikTok, saying it poses just such a national security threat because of its Chinese ownership.

This month, Mr. Trump signed an executive order to block TikTok if ByteDance did not sell the app’s U.S. operations within 45 days. He later issued another executive order giving ByteDance 90 days to close such a deal.