The TikTok CEO will attend the inauguration with a front-row seat at Trump’s invitation
TikTok CEO Shou Chew is expected to accept the president-elect’s invitation Donald Trump attend his inauguration.
Chew will sit front and center at the podium with other VIP guests and fellow tech executives Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos and Elon Muskaccording to a report by The New York Times.
The January 20 inauguration will come a day after TikTok plans to shut down operations within the US
Trump is now considering an executive order to suspend enforcement of a law requiring TikTok to divest from Chinese-owned ByteDance or face a 60- to 90-day U.S. ban, according to the Washington Post, to buy time to negotiate a sale or other another solution.
Trump’s defense of TikTok marks a reversal from his position in 2020, when he tried to block the video-sharing app from the US and force it to sell to an American company.
TRUMP SAYS TIKTOK’S FATE SHOULD BE IN HIS HANDS WHEN HE RETURNS TO THE WHITE HOUSE
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew testifies before the House Energy and Commerce Committee in the Rayburn House on Capitol Hill on March 23, 2023 in Washington, DC. The hearing was a rare opportunity for lawmakers to question the head of the short-form video social media app about the company’s relationship with its Chinese owner, ByteDance, and how it handles users’ sensitive personal data. (Getty Images)
“My heart is warm for TikTok,” Trump said last month. The new president has more than 14 million followers on the app. He met with company executives at Mar-a-Lago last month.
In broad, bipartisan fashion, Congress passed legislation last year to implement a ban-or-sell policy, arguing that the CCP uses the app to spy on Americans and spread propaganda, and ByteDance has long said TikTok is not for sale.
There have been reports of American billionaires like Elon Musk and Kevin O’Leary preparing to bid on TikTok’s US operations.
TRUMP ARRANGEES A MEETING WITH PUTIN, IN COMMUNICATION WITH XI.
last week, The Supreme Court considered a challenge to the law which will take effect on January 19. He has not made a decision yet, but is expected to allow the law to move forward. If the court upholds the law — as a lower court did last month — TikTok’s days in the U.S. would be numbered.
So could Trump force Congress to repeal the law or order its Justice Department not to enforce it. His attorney general nominee Pam Bondi declined to say whether she would implement the ban during her confirmation hearing this week.
Former President Donald Trump headlines the Republican National Committee’s spring fundraiser in Palm Beach, Florida on May 4, 2024. (Donald Trump 2024 campaign)
People take their seats as a rehearsal begins on the west facade of the U.S. Capitol ahead of the upcoming inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025, in Washington. ((AP photo))
Trump surprised observers of American foreign policy last month when he invited the president Xi Jinping to his inauguration, although Xi is not expected to attend the inauguration.
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Despite chronic hacking by the Chinese, Trump appears to be taking a diplomatic tone toward Xi and his government, keeping them wary of Trump’s long-standing promise to impose tariffs of as much as 60% on their U.S. exports
“We have a good relationship with China. I have a good relationship,” Trump told CNBC last month. “We talked and discussed with President Xi about some things.”
