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Donald Trump reportedly met with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew on Monday to discuss the app’s potential ban by the US government.
The two men reportedly had a meeting at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, according to NBC News.
In the days leading up to the meeting, Trump had expressed some degree of sympathy for the company, saying he had a “warm spot” for the app, and promising that he’d “take a look” at the ban.
If Trump did somehow defuse the ban, he’d be actively undermining his Republican colleagues — and many Democrats — who worked to present the app as an unchecked tool for Chinese surveillance and worthy of prohibition.
Earlier this year Joe Biden signed a federal law that would ban TikTok in the US unless the company’s Chinese owners divest their interest. The deadline for TikTok to comply was January 19.
Since then, TikTok has been trying to find ways to block the law, going so far as to challenge it at the Supreme Court. A previous court gambit failed when a federal appeals court upheld the divestment ruling.
TikTok took its case to the Supreme Court on Monday, trying to argue that it was a significant tool for free speech and that its ban would limit Americans’ rights to free speech.
“The Act will shutter one of America’s most popular speech platforms the day before a presidential inauguration,” TikTok argued to the court. “This, in turn, will silence the speech of Applicants and the many Americans who use the platform to communicate about politics, commerce, arts, and other matters of public concern,”
With the courts ruling on the side of the ban, the only other way around the January 19 deadline is a 90-day reprieve that would have to come from Biden himself.
Since Trump won’t be taking office until the day after the deadline, it’s unclear if there’s any influence he can wield to save the app, if her were so inclined. If Biden grants a reprieve, then it will fall solely on Trump to uphold or tear down.
The president-elect attributed some of his 2024 electoral success to TikTok, noting that he won the “youth by 34 points” during a press conference on Monday.
“And there are those that say that TikTok has something to do with that,” Trump said, but, as always, refusing to elaborate on who he was talking about.
Trump’s softening on TikTok is a notable attitude swing from 2020. That year, Trump himself tried to ban the app, but his efforts were blocked by courts three times.
When he switched position earlier this year, he shocked some of his supporters but delighted others — namely Jeff Yass, a major TikTok investor and Republican megadonor.
