Trump says he won’t let TikTok stay dark
President-elect Trump said Sunday he will issue an executive order to postpone the ban on TikTok and give its Chinese-based company ByteDance more time to divest from the platform.
"I’m asking companies not to let TikTok stay dark!" Trump wrote on Truth Social Sunday morning. "I will issue an executive order on Monday to extend the period of time before the law’s prohibitions take effect, so that we can make a deal to protect our national security."
Trump said the order will ensure no liability for companies that "helped TikTok from going dark."
TikTok blocked access to American users late Saturday night, just hours before the ban on the popular video-sharing platform was expected to take effect on Sunday.
The platform mentioned the president-elect in a message to users who tried to use the app.
“A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now,” the platform said. “We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned!”
The law passed Congress with wide bipartisan support and was signed by President Biden in April amid national security concerns over ByteDance's ties to China.
The president-elect, who will be sworn into office Monday, said he would like the U.S. to have a "50 percent ownership position in a joint venture" to allow the platform to stay "in good hands and allow it to say (stay) up."
"Without U.S. approval, there is no TikTok. With our approval, it is worth hundreds of billions of dollars - maybe trillions," he wrote. "Therefore, my initial thought is a joint venture between the current owners and/or new owners whereby the U.S. gets a 50% ownership in a joint venture set up between the U.S. and whichever purchase we so choose."
Trump hinted at a potential executive order on the issue on Saturday, telling NBC's "Meet the Press" anchor Kristen Welker that a 90-day extension on the ban is "appropriate."
The divest-or-ban law allows the president to provide a 90-day extension if progress is being made toward a divesture.
The Supreme Court unanimously upheld the divest-or-ban law on Friday. However, the Biden administration said later that day it did not plan to enforce the law and would instead leave its implementation to the incoming Trump administration.
TikTok later said it still planned to "go dark" unless President Biden stepped in. The White House called the claim a "stunt," and said the app did not have to take action before Trump is sworn in on Monday.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will be among the various tech leaders at Trump's inauguration on Monday and was reportedly taking place in other inauguration weekend events.
Chew, who met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago last month, thanked the president-elect last week for his commitment to finding a solution to keep the app usable in the U.S.