President-Elect Donald Trump has made a last minute plea to get the United States Supreme Court to halt implementation of a nationwide TikTok ban.
Congress had passed a law earlier this year banning the popular video-sharing app as of January 19 if it is not sold by its Chinese parent company by then.
Executives at the platform then made an emergency plea to the Supreme Court earlier this month to block the federal law, and on Friday Trump’s legal team filed its own request to delay the implementation of the law.
‘President Trump takes no position on the underlying merits of this dispute,’ D. John Sauer, Trump’s lawyer whom he picked for US solicitor general wrote in the filing, according to NBC News.
‘Instead, he respectfully requests that the Court consider staying the Act’s deadline for divestment of January 19, 2025 while it considers the merits of this case, thus permitting President Trump’s incoming administration the opportunity to pursue a political resolution of the questions at issue in this case.’
‘President Trump alone possesses the consummate deal-making expertise, the electoral mandate and the political will to negotiate a resolution to save the platform while addressing the national security concerns expressed by the government – concerns which President Trump himself has acknowledged,’ Sauer continued.
‘In light of these interests – including most importantly, his overarching responsibility for the United States’ national security and foreign policy – President Trump opposes banning TikTok in the United States at this juncture and seeks the ability to resolve issues at hand through political means once he takes office.’
Trump has previously voiced his opposition to the Protecting Americans from Controlled Applications App that President Joe Biden signed into law in April, and vowed on the campaign trail to ‘save TikTok.’
He even met with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew earlier this month to discuss the issue, after proclaiming, ‘I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok because I won youth by 34 points.’
President-elect Donald Trump has has made a last minute plea to get the United States Supreme Court to halt implementation of a nationwide TikTok ban
Congress passed a resolution earlier this year banning the popular video-sharing app as of January 19 if it is not sold by its Chinese parent company by then
‘There are those who say TikTok had something to do with that.’
Friday’s filing even touted the future president as ‘one of the most powerful, prolific and influential users of social media in history.
‘Indeed, President Trump’s first term was highlighted by a series of policy triumphs achieved through historic deals, and he has a great prospect of success in this latest national security and foreign policy endeavor,’ it says.
Executives at TikTok have also pointed at Trump’s sympathies in its own legal arguments, suggesting the trajectory may change when he takes office, The Hill reports.
But the Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments both from the government and the platform at an expedited schedule, starting on January 10.
It would then only have nine days after oral arguments for them to issue an opinion or indefinitely block the Protecting Americans from Controlled Applications App – though Trump does not take office until January 20 – one day after TikTok must be divested from its parent company, ByteDance, or be banned in the United States.
The company has previously argued that such a law violates the First Amendment to the Constitution.
