Overview
- Upon reentering office, Trump intends to postpone the TikTok ban for 90 days to negotiate with the app’s CEO.
- The TikTok CEO expresses gratitude for Trump’s collaboration, emphasizing a goal of sustaining the app long-term.
- The future of TikTok remains uncertain amid shifting political landscapes.
As President-Elect Donald Trump prepares for his second inauguration, he appears to be taking steps to preserve TikTok, the popular video-sharing platform he sought to ban during his previous presidency. A rally celebrating his electoral victory is scheduled for the day before his inauguration, and notable attendees are expected to include TikTok’s CEO.
On January 18, TikTok temporarily ceased operations in the United States, just hours before a Congressional mandate to implement a nationwide ban. While 170 million daily American users braced for the loss of the app, certain features inexplicably resumed functionality less than 24 hours later.
According to a CNN report, Trump plans to issue an executive order on his inauguration day that would postpone the ban by 90 days. TikTok has also confirmed its efforts to restore app services for U.S. users. Earlier, a Congressional vote in spring 2024 indicated that both Democrats and Republicans would ban TikTok nationwide unless its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, divested ownership by January 19, 2025. With ByteDance still in control, a recent Supreme Court ruling appeared to solidify the ban until Trump’s forthcoming intervention.
TikTok Strategizing a Long-Term Agreement with Trump
Despite having previously signed an executive order to ban TikTok in 2020—an action later stayed by a federal court and ultimately rescinded by the Biden administration—Trump has begun to publicly oppose Congress’ recent bipartisan efforts to reinstate a ban. Currently, both he and Biden appear to be softening their earlier stances, with Biden declaring that he would not push for the ban before exiting office, and Trump seemingly aligning closely with TikTok’s leadership.
Trump’s recent remarks expressing his intent to preserve TikTok have received commendation from TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew. In a video message directed at U.S. users released shortly before the app’s temporary shutdown, Chew thanked the president-elect for his willingness to collaborate with TikTok, framing it as a significant affirmation of First Amendment rights and resistance against arbitrary censorship. Although many functionalities of TikTok are currently unavailable, Chew’s commendation of Trump remains accessible. He suggests that their objectives for maintaining the app’s availability in the U.S. are shaped by long-term plans, though it remains unclear if these will necessitate ByteDance’s sale of the platform.
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