By David Shepardson and Katie Paul
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order seeking to delay by 75 days the implementation of a ban on the popular short video app TikTok, which was scheduled to close on January 19.
In signing the order, Trump suggested that the US government should own half of TikTok’s US business in exchange for keeping the app alive and warned that he could impose tariffs on China if Beijing did not approve a US deal with TikTok.
The executive order ended 48 hours of legal maneuvering and political intrigue that left millions of American TikTokkers fighting for answers about the fate of their app.
The drama began on Saturday when the short video app used by 170 million Americans was taken offline for users shortly before a law went into effect on Sunday saying its Chinese owner ByteDance must sell it for national security reasons, or ban it. .
The next day, Trump said he planned to “save TikTok.” Within hours, the company began restoring its service in the US, thanking the next president for providing assurances to TikTok and its business partners that they would not face heavy fines to keep the app running.
The app and website were operational on Monday, but TikTok is not yet available for download in the Apple (NASDAQ:) and Google app stores.
Trump’s order, signed hours after his inauguration on Monday, reflects his previous promises and directs the attorney general not to enforce the law to give his team time “to determine the appropriate course of action with respect to TikTok.” .
But the legality of Trump’s executive order is unclear. The law requiring divestment was passed by a supermajority in Congress, signed by President Joe Biden and unanimously confirmed by the Supreme Court.
The law also does not give Trump authority to extend the deadline unless ByteDance has “binding agreements” to sell TikTok and it is not clear that any agreement exists.
ByteDance did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.
Rep. Frank Pallone said Trump’s order is “circumventing national security legislation passed by an overwhelming bipartisan majority in Congress.”
TENSE RELATIONS WITH CHINA
The debate over TikTok comes at a tense time in relations between the United States and China. Trump has said he intends to impose tariffs on China, but has also indicated that he hopes to have more direct contact with China’s leader.
Signing the executive order on Monday night, Trump said he “could see” the US government taking a 50% stake in TikTok and, as part of that stake, the US could monitor the site.
Trump added that if China doesn’t approve a deal, “it has no value. So if we create that value, why aren’t we entitled to get half of it?” He said the company could be worth hundreds of billions of dollars.
The United States has never banned a major social media platform. The law passed last year gives the Trump administration broad authority to ban or seek the sale of other Chinese-owned apps.
Trump saving TikTok represents a change in position from his first term. In 2020, it unsuccessfully attempted to ban the app, as well as Tencent’s WeChat, over fears the company was sharing Americans’ personal information with the Chinese government.
More recently, Trump has said he has “a warm place in my heart for TikTok,” crediting the app with helping him win over young voters in the 2024 presidential election.
Later in 2020, Trump blessed a deal for a new ownership structure in which Walmart (NYSE 🙂 and Oracle (NYSE 🙂) agreed to take stakes in the new company.
Trump said the deal would include the companies paying for a $5 billion U.S. education fund as part of the deal. The deal ultimately fell through.
It would be unprecedented for the US government to demand an ownership stake in a major company in exchange for approving its continued use.
Trump’s comments also did not address whether ByteDance or other Chinese entities would be allowed to have a stake in TikTok or whether the deal would address U.S. national security concerns about American users’ data.
The order directs the Justice Department to send letters to companies such as Apple, Alphabet’s Google (NASDAQ:) and Oracle that provide services to TikTok “indicating that there has been no violation of the statute and that there is no liability for any conduct that occurred during the period specified above.”
It’s not yet clear whether Trump’s order will be enough to convince Alphabet’s Google and Apple to restore the app to U.S. stores.
That announcement came as China first indicated it would be open to a transaction that would keep TikTok operating in the US.
When asked about the app’s restoration and Trump’s desire to reach a deal, China’s Foreign Ministry said at a regular news conference on Monday that it believed the companies should “independently decide” on its operations and agreements.
He repeated the same comment Tuesday when asked about Trump’s executive order.