Trump vows to save TikTok and not ban it in the US
After a turbulent year full of anxiety and legal dispute over his future in the United States, TikTok may have gotten a lifeline from the man who was once his worst enemy: Donald Trump.
President-elect Trump, who tried to ban the social media platform the last time he was in the White House, has vowed several times during his recent campaign to oppose the ban on the short video platform, which could happen as soon as mid-January.
For months, TikTok and its parent company, China-based ByteDance, have been locked in a legal battle with the United States over a federal law requiring them to cut ties on national security grounds or stop operating in one of their largest markets in the world. The move, signed by President Joe Biden in April, gives ByteDance nine months to sell itself to a U.S. company, with the possibility of a three-month extension if the sale is underway. If that happens, the deadline could be extended to the first 100 days of Trump's presidency.
When asked for comment, Trump's transition team did not provide any details on how Trump planned to deliver on his promise to "save TikTok," he said in a post on his social network Truth Social in September while encouraging people to join him by voting for him. But Caroline Levitt, a spokeswoman for the transition team, indicated in a statement that it planned to do so.
"The American people re-elected President Trump by a wide margin, giving him a mandate to deliver on campaign promises," Levitt said. "It will fulfill it."
During an interview with CNBC in March, Trump said he still believes TikTok poses a national security risk but opposes banning it because doing so would help compete with Facebook, which has continued to criticize it for losing the 2020 election.