“I am pleading with businesses to keep TikTok active! In order to reach an agreement to safeguard our national security, I will issue an executive order on Monday to prolong the time frame before the law’s prohibitions go into effect. In a post on Truth Social, Trump stated, “The order will also confirm that there will be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before my order.”
Consequently, the incoming president stated, “My first idea is a joint venture between the existing owners and/or new owners whereby the U.S. gets a 50% ownership in a joint venture set up between the U.S. and whatever purchase we so choose.”
Notably, in the last months of his first administration, Trump tried to outlaw TikTok and signed an executive order on August 6, 2020, to that effect. But when Joe Biden assumed president in January 2021, he overturned the ban after TikTok successfully obtained an injunction against it.
But at least since the middle of 2023, when he started to minimize the privacy and national security issues with TikTok, Trump has demonstrated a shift in position. The incoming US president may have promised the app a 90-day extension because he feels that TikTok has been crucial in helping him engage with American youth.
