Offering hope to the nearly 170 million TikTok users in the United States after the popular app went dark, President-elect Donald Trump announced that he will sign an executive order on Monday to extend the time frame before the law’s prohibitions take effect, allowing for negotiations that would secure national security interests.
In a message sent to its users on Saturday night, TikTok stated, “We regret that a U.S. law banning TikTok will take effect on January 19 and force us to make our services temporarily unavailable. We’re working to restore our service in the U.S. as soon as possible, and we appreciate your support.”
Hours after the shutdown, the app shared an update: “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!”
Trump Suggests U.S. Stake in TikTok
In a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump wrote that he was urging companies to ensure TikTok doesn’t remain offline. He confirmed that he would issue an executive order on Monday, extending the deadline before the law’s prohibitions take effect. Trump added, “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,” the post read further.
Chinese Company Had Refused to Sell Its Shares
Last year, Congress passed legislation mandating TikTok’s ban unless its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, sold its shares by Monday. However, the Chinese tech giant, given nine months to sell TikTok’s U.S. operations to an approved buyer, consistently refused to sell. While U.S. officials warned of the app’s potential national security risks, TikTok and its users filed lawsuits challenging the ban.
Earlier in an interview with NBC News‘ “Meet the Press” on Saturday, the President-elect said that he would “most likely” grant TikTok a 90-day reprieve from a potential U.S. ban after taking office on Monday.
“I think that would be, certainly, an option that we look at. 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,” he had said.
