Written by Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President-elect Donald Trump would not rule out continued Chinese ownership of TikTok if steps are taken to ensure American users' data is protected and stored in the United States, new national security adviser Mike Waltz told CNN on Sunday.
TikTok stopped working for its 170 American users on Sunday after entering a law prohibiting the continued operation of the app over concerns that Americans' data could be misused by Chinese officials.
Waltz, a congressman whose appointment as security adviser will be subject to Senate confirmation, told CNN that the president-elect is working to “save TikTok” and does not rule out continued Chinese ownership along with “firewalls to make sure that data is protected here on American soil.”
Trump said he would “most likely” give TikTok a 90-day reprieve from the ban after he takes office on Monday, a promise TikTok cited in a notice posted to users on the app.
Waltz also spoke to CBS News on Sunday and said Trump needs time to resolve issues related to TikTok while adding that an extension is needed for TikTok to evaluate proposed buyers.
However, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson sent mixed signals, saying he believes Trump will pressure ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, to sell the app.
“The way we read this is that he will try to force a real divestment and change of ownership and ownership,” Johnson said. “It's not the platform that members of Congress were worried about. It's the Chinese Communist Party.”
Some of Trump's fellow Republicans in Congress have opposed the idea of extending TikTok.
Republican Senators Tom, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Pete Ricketts, said in a joint statement on Sunday that “there is no legal basis for any type of ‘extension’ of the effective (ban) date.”
