Trump will prevent TikTok from ‘going dark’, adviser says | Business and economic news
United States President-elect Donald Trump’s new national security adviser has said the new administration will keep TikTok alive in the US if a viable deal is reached.
“We’re going to put measures in place to keep TikTok from going down,” US Representative Mike Waltz told Fox News on Thursday.
He noted that the law authorizes a 90-day extension for the app’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, to complete the sale. That is the case, Waltz said, “as long as a viable deal is on the table. It basically buys President Trump time to keep TikTok going.”
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor Thursday that TikTok, which is owned by China’s ByteDance, should be given more time to find a buyer.
“Clearly, more time is needed to find an American buyer and not disrupt the lives and livelihoods of millions of Americans,” Schumer said, adding that Senate Democrats had tried to pass a bill to extend the deadline to find a solution. “I will work with the Trump administration and both parties to keep TikTok alive while protecting our national security.”
TikTok is used by more than 170 million Americans per month.
The New York Times reported Thursday that Trump is considering an executive order that would allow TikTok to continue operating despite a pending legal ban until new owners are found. It was not immediately clear whether Trump had the authority to do so given the legal requirements for asset forfeiture imposed by Congress.
A group of US lawmakers is also pushing for a 270-day extension, warning that the ban could hurt Americans who make a living from using TikTok.
TikTok did not respond to requests for comment.
Trump transition spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said: “President Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to save TikTok, and there is no better mediator than Donald Trump.”
Threatened shutdown
Reuters reported this earlier TikTok plans to shut down US operations of its social media apps on Sunday, when the federal ban is set to take effect, barring a last-minute delay, according to people familiar with the matter.
A White House official told Reuters on Wednesday that outgoing President Joe Biden does not plan to intervene to block the ban in his final days in office if the US Supreme Court does not act. The official added that Biden is legally unable to intervene without a credible plan from ByteDance to divest from TikTok.
The law, signed in April, mandates a ban on new TikTok downloads from Apple’s or Google’s app stores if ByteDance fails to release the sites.
Users who have downloaded TikTok could theoretically continue to use the app, but the law also prohibits US companies from providing services to enable the distribution, maintenance or updates of the app after the ban begins.
The president can issue a one-time 90-day moratorium on the ban if he certifies to Congress that there is evidence of significant progress and that there are binding legal agreements that allow for full asset forfeiture in three months.
Separately, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew plans to attend the US president’s inauguration on January 20 and sit among the high-ranking guests invited by Trump, a source told Reuters.
Rep. Frank Pallone, the top Democrat on the Energy and Commerce Committee, criticized the decision to invite Chew on social media platform X.
“Trump talks a big game about China and wanted to ban TikTok — just like many Republicans voted for,” Pallone said. “But now he is inviting the CEO of TikTok to sit next to him at his inauguration even though TikTok is linked to the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] and is a threat to our national security. What message does this send?”
The US Supreme Court is currently deciding whether to uphold the law and allow TikTok’s ban on Sunday, overturn the law, or pause the law to give the court more time to make a decision.
Privately held ByteDance is about 60 percent owned by institutional investors such as BlackRock and General Atlantic, while its founders and employees own 20 percent each. It has more than 7,000 employees in the US.
