Author: Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President-elect Donald Trump would not rule out further Chinese ownership of TikTok if steps are taken to ensure that American users’ data is protected and stored in the U.S., new national security adviser Mike Waltz told CNN on Sunday .
TikTok shut down for its 170 American users on Sunday after a law came into effect barring the app from continuing to operate amid concerns that Chinese officials could misuse Americans’ data.
Waltz, a member of Congress whose appointment as security adviser is subject to Senate confirmation, told CNN that the president-elect is working to “save TikTok” and does not rule out continued Chinese ownership along with “firewalls to ensure that data is protected here on U.S. soil.” -and.”
Trump said he would “most likely” give TikTok a 90-day reprieve from the ban after he takes office on Monday, a promise TikTok made in a notice posted to users of the app.
Waltz also spoke to CBS News on Sunday and said Trump needs time to resolve issues related to TikTok, adding that TikTok needs an extension to evaluate proposed buyers.
But Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson has sent conflicting signals, saying he believes Trump will push TikTok parent company ByteDance to sell the app.
“The way we’re reading it is he’s going to try to force a true sale, a change of hands, a change of ownership,” Johnson said. “It wasn’t the platform that members of Congress were worried about. It was the Chinese Communist Party.”
Some of Trump’s fellow Republicans in Congress opposed the idea of an extension for TikTok.
Republican US Senators Tom, who chairs the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and Pete Ricketts said in a joint statement Sunday that “there is no legal basis for any ‘extension’ of the effective date (of the ban).”
