Written by David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – TikTok's fortunes took a positive turn on Thursday as a growing number of U.S. officials said the app's Chinese owner should have more time to sell the app and prevent it from being banned before President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House. .
Trump's new national security adviser said the new Republican administration would keep the social media app used by 170 million Americans alive in the US if there is a workable deal, and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer urged President Joe Biden to extend the looming deadline for 90 years. One day. Closed on Sunday.
A law passed in April requires TikTok's owner, ByteDance, to divest TikTok's US assets by Sunday to a non-Chinese buyer, or be blocked due to national security concerns.
“We will put measures in place to prevent TikTok from going dark,” US Rep. Mike Waltz told Fox News, pointing to a provision in the law that allows for a 90-day extension if there is “significant progress” toward divestiture.
“This gives President Trump time to continue running TikTok,” said Waltz, who was chosen by Trump to be his national security adviser.
The US Supreme Court is currently deciding whether to uphold the law and allow TikTok to be banned on Sunday without divestment, striking down the law or pausing it to give the justices more time to decide.
The court said it may issue its rulings on Friday, but did not specify, as is usual, the case or issues that would be decided.
Trump had once supported a ban on the app but changed his position last year. His shift came amid growing signs of support for his presidential campaign among tech executives and overtures from Republican donor Jeff Yass, who owns a large stake in ByteDance.
In a sign of improving relations between Trump and TikTok, the video app's CEO, Xu Ziqiu, will attend the presidential inauguration on January 20 and sit at the podium among other high-profile invitees, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters. .
Shift between the two parties
“Clearly more time is needed to find an American buyer and not disrupt the lives and livelihoods of millions of Americans,” Schumer said on the Senate floor, adding that Democrats had tried to pass a bill extending the deadline to find a solution for 270 seats. days.
“I will work with the Trump administration and with both parties to keep TikTok alive while protecting our national security,” he added.
The comments from Schumer, who has been a vocal supporter of the Force Sell Act, are a sign of growing concern among prominent Democrats about the potential impact and political ramifications of shutting down TikTok.
the New York Times (NYSE:) reported that Trump is considering issuing an executive order seeking to allow TikTok to continue operating despite a pending legal ban until new owners are found. It was not immediately clear whether Trump had the authority to do so in light of the legal divestiture requirements imposed by Congress.
TikTok did not respond to requests for comment.
“President Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to save TikTok, and there is no better dealmaker than Donald Trump,” said Carolyn Levitt, Trump's transition spokeswoman.
“Conversations are a big game”
However, many Republicans and Democrats remain concerned about China's ownership of the app, and worry that the Chinese government may use it as a tool to collect data on American citizens and spread propaganda to the public.
“Trump is talking a big game about China and wanted to ban TikTok — just as many Republicans voted to do,” Rep. Frank Pallone, the top Democrat on the Energy and Commerce Committee, wrote on the social media platform X. “TikTok CEO sitting next to him at his inauguration even though TikTok is linked to the Chinese Communist Party and poses a threat to our national security?”
The prospect of a TikTok ban has already sent some users searching for alternatives, with Chinese social media app RedNote gaining nearly 3 million US users in a single day earlier this week, according to analytics firm Sameweb (NYSE:).
TikTok plans to shut down the US operations of its social media app on Sunday except for a last-minute reprieve, according to people familiar with the matter, Reuters reported.
A White House official told Reuters on Wednesday that Biden has no plans to intervene to block the ban in his final days in office if the US Supreme Court fails to act. The official added that Biden is legally unable to intervene in the absence of a credible plan from ByteDance to divest TikTok.
Privately held ByteDance is roughly 60% owned by institutional investors such as BlackRock (NYSE:) and General Atlantic, while its founders and employees own 20% each. It has more than 7,000 employees in the United States.
