‘SAVE TIKTOK!’ Trump Voices Support for Embattled App Hours After it Goes Offline in the US
Hours after the current ownership of TikTok cited President-elect Donald Trump as their only hope, the incoming president stepped up to the plate for the embattled app.
In a post to Truth Social early Sunday, Trump expressed support for the return of the app — which was pulled just before midnight Saturday.
“SAVE TIKTOK!” Trump said.
In a message to users, TikTok said it was banned as a result of the new law (the message did not inform users the company’s ownership has the option to divest, rather than face the effective ban) — but that it was hopeful Trump would “work with” them on a potential return.
“A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S.,” the message said. “Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now. 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!”
In an interview Saturday, Trump told NBC’s Kristen Welker he will “most likely” issue a 90-day extension allowing the return of TikTok under current ownership.
“I think that would be, certainly, an option that we look at,” Trump told Welker. “The 90-day extension is something that will be most likely done, because it’s appropriate. You know, it’s appropriate. We have to look at it carefully. It’s a very big situation. If I decide to do that, I’ll probably announce it on Monday.”
Trump will face some opposition from Republicans over the move to restore TikTok without Bytedance divesting. In a statement early Sunday, GOP Senators Tom Cotton (AR) and Pete Ricketts (NE) made clear they do not want TikTok to return without new ownership.
“We commend Amazon, Apple, Google, and Microsoft for following the law and halting operations with ByteDance and TikTok, and we encourage other companies to do the same. The law, after all, risks ruinous bankruptcy for any company who violates it. Now that the law has taken effect, there’s no legal basis for any kind of ‘extension’ of its effective date. For TikTok to come back online in the future, ByteDance must agree to a sale that satisfies the law’s qualified-divestiture requirements by severing all ties between TikTok and Communist China. Only then will Americans be protected from the grave threat posed to their privacy and security by a communist-controlled TikTok.”
