Will Trump White House rescue TikTok from looming ban? President-elect has done a 180 on the app

Months ago, President-elect Donald Trump vaguely suggested that those who "like TikTok" should ballot for him, raising the hopes for users of the video-sharing app that helium mightiness thwart a prohibition that is soon to instrumentality effect.  

"We’re not doing thing with TikTok, but the different broadside is going to adjacent it up, truthful if you similar TikTok, spell retired and ballot for Trump," Trump said successful a September post connected his Truth Social service.

He didn’t marque immoderate circumstantial promises to reverse the impending ban, but his squad says helium volition "deliver."

"The American radical re-elected President Trump by a resounding margin, giving him a mandate to instrumentality the promises helium made connected the run trail," Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance’s modulation team, said successful a statement.

Working to reverse a ban, which should instrumentality effect successful January, passed by Congress and signed into instrumentality by President Joe Biden, would beryllium a 180-degree reversal from 2020, erstwhile Trump tried to artifact the app successful the U.S. oregon unit its sale. 

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(Months ago, President-elect Donald Trump vaguely suggested that those who "like TikTok" should ballot for him, raising the hopes for users of the video-sharing app that helium mightiness thwart a prohibition that is soon to instrumentality effect.)

Then, successful April 2024, Biden signed a akin measurement that gave TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, until Jan. 19, 2025 – the time earlier the inauguration – to merchantability it oregon look a U.S. ban.

"He appreciates the breadth and scope of TikTok, which helium utilized masterfully on with podcasts and caller media entrants to win,"Kellyanne Conway, an advisor adjacent to Trump who present advocates for TikTok, told the Washington Post.

"There are galore ways to clasp China to relationship extracurricular alienating 180 cardinal U.S. users each month. Trump recognized aboriginal connected that Democrats are the enactment of bans — gas-powered cars, menthol cigarettes, vapes, integrative straws and TikTok — and to fto them ain that draconian, anti-personal-choice space."

The Trump White House could unit the Republican-led Congress to reverse the TikTok ban. Or, the justness section could prosecute a argumentation of escaped enforcement of the law. 

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TikTok is presently warring successful tribunal to undo the law, arguing that it is unconstitutional. 

The instrumentality besides allows the president to widen the divestment deadline by 90 days if the medication sees "significant progress" toward a sale. 

The instrumentality is enforced by ordering app stores similar Apple and Google to halt offering TikTok connected their platforms, oregon beryllium subjected to a fine. 

When it comes to Big Tech, Trump has focused overmuch of his ire connected TikTok’s rival, Meta, formerly Facebook. In a March interrogation with CNBC, Trump said the proprietor of Facebook and Instagram poses a acold bigger threat, labeling Meta an "enemy of the people."

"Facebook has been precise atrocious for our country, particularly erstwhile it comes to elections," Trump said.

"We’re not doing thing with TikTok, but the different broadside is going to adjacent it up, truthful if you similar TikTok, spell retired and ballot for Trump," Trump said successful a September station connected his Truth Social service. ( Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Trump's caput of authorities pick, Sen. Marco Rubio, has called for TikTok to beryllium banned successful the U.S.  (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

But since then, Meta’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, has fixed a fig of glowing statements astir Trump. 

"Congratulations to President Trump connected a decisive victory. We person large opportunities up of america arsenic a country. Looking guardant to moving with you and your administration," the tech mogul said aft Trump’s win. 

Trump himself has much than 14 cardinal followers connected TikTok. "For each of those who privation to prevention TikTok successful America, ballot for Trump. The different broadside is closing it up, but I’m present a large prima connected TikTok," helium declared successful September. 

But backmost connected Capitol Hill, the nationalist information menace of TikTok is simply a apical interest for lawmakers of some parties – 197 Republicans and 155 Democrats voted for the measure to unit ByteDance to divest. They fearfulness that the Chinese genitor institution could beryllium harnessing information connected U.S. citizens and manipulating the contented that users spot to beryllium against U.S. interests, charges that TikTok denies. 

But Trump's Cabinet picks are mostly China hawks who person supported the ban. His appointed nationalist information adviser, Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., voted for it. His prime for caput of state, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said that TikTok gives the Chinese authorities "a unsocial quality to monitor" U.S. teens and that "we indispensable prohibition this imaginable spyware earlier it is excessively late." 

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Trump's nominee for homeland information secretary, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, was the archetypal politician to prohibition TikTok connected authorities devices.

Public enactment for a TikTok prohibition has tanked successful the U.S., with lone 32% of Americans backing one, a Pew Research canvass found successful September.