Trump Vows Monday Executive Order to Restore TikTok, Proposes US Buying Half In ‘Joint Venture’ with China

President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President-elect Donald Trump vowed to sign an executive order on Monday after his inauguration to save TikTok from having to divest or face an effective ban in the US and proposed a “joint venture” with China to keep the platform available.

TikTok shut itself down Saturday evening hours before a law went into effect requiring owners Bytedance to divest or face an effective ban. TikTok told its American users as the app went dark that only Trump could throw them a lifeline.

The platform has faced accusations for years that it is little more than Chinese malware cloaked as entertainment. Trump demanded its ban during his first term.

The president-elect, who told NBC News on Saturday he would likely work to keep TikTok available, began his Sunday with a post on his Truth Social account that read, “SAVE TIKTOK.” Later, in a separate post, he vowed executive action and floated a partnership on the matter with China:

I’m asking companies not to let TikTok stay dark! 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. The order will also confirm that there will be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before my order.

Americans deserve to see our exciting Inauguration on Monday, as well as other events and conversations.

I would like the United States to have a 50% ownership position in a joint venture. By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands and allow it to say up. Without U.S. approval, there is no Tik Tok. With our approval, it is worth hundreds of billions of dollars – maybe trillions.

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.

TikTok’s owner – Beijing-based ByteDance – was given the better part of a year to comply with a bipartisan law President Joe Biden signed that demanded it be sold if it wanted to operate on American servers.

ByteDance declined to sell off the popular video-sharing app, leading to its Saturday shutdown.