President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming national security adviser said on Thursday that the new administration will keep TikTok alive in the US if there is a lasting deal.
“We will put measures in place to keep TikTok from going dark,” said Rep. Mike Waltz for Fox News, noting that the law authorizes a 90-day extension for Chinese app owner ByteDance to complete a sale “as long as it’s workable. The deal is on the table. Basically, this i buys President Trump time to keep TikTok afloat.”
TikTok did not immediately comment.
A spokeswoman for the Trump transition, Caroline Leavitt, said that “President Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to save TikTok and there is no better deal than Donald Trump.”
Reuters reported that TikTok plans to shut down the US operations of its social media app used by 170 million Americans on Sunday when a federal ban goes into effect, barring a last-minute delay, according to people familiar with the matter. matter.
The law signed in April orders a ban on new downloads of TikTok on the Apple or Google app stores if Chinese parent ByteDance fails to take down the website.
Users who have downloaded TikTok will theoretically still be able to use the app, but the law also prohibits US companies from providing services to enable distribution, maintenance or updating when any ban begins.
Separately, the Wall Street Journal reported that TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will attend the presidential inauguration on January 20 and sit among the high-profile guests invited by Trump. Chew will be in Washington on Monday, a source told Reuters.
Representative Frank Pallone, the top Democrat on the Energy and Commerce Committee, criticized the decision to invite Chew to the X social media platform.
“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 and is a threat to our national security. What message does that send?”
The US Supreme Court is currently deciding whether to uphold the law and allow TikTok to be banned on Sunday, strike down the law or stay the law to give the court more time to make a decision.
Privately held ByteDance is about 60% owned by institutional investors such as BlackRock and General Atlantic, while its founders and employees own 20% each. It has more than 7,000 employees in the US.
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