President-elect Donald Trump expressed support for allowing TikTok to continue operating in the United States during a recent speech in Phoenix, Arizona. Trump, who successfully used TikTok during his presidential campaign, reported receiving “billions of views” on the social media platform.
The U.S. Senate passed a law in April requiring TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to divest the app, citing national security concerns. However, TikTok’s owners have sought to have the law struck down, and the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case. If the court does not rule in ByteDance’s favor and no divestment occurs, the app could be effectively banned in the United States on January 19, just one day before Trump takes office.
Despite the Justice Department’s argument that Chinese control of TikTok poses a threat to national security, Trump expressed a “warm spot” for the app, citing its role in his campaign’s success. He has also met with TikTok’s CEO and described the platform as something that “we gotta keep around for a little while.”
It remains unclear how Trump would go about reversing the TikTok divestiture order, which passed overwhelmingly in the Senate. The appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court is ongoing, and the app’s fate in the United States remains uncertain.
