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Just hours after taking office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday night instructing the attorney general’s office to delay enforcing the law that banned TikTok in the U.S. effective Sunday for 75 days, The New York Times reported.
While signing the order, Trump told reporters, “The U.S. should be entitled to get half of TikTok,” according to the Times.
The law, the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, requires TikTok’s China-based parent, ByteDance, to sell the application to a U.S. company.
According to the order, the Trump administration will “pursue a resolution that protects national security while saving a platform used by 170 million Americans,” the Times reported.
It has been a hectic few days for Trump, as he prepared for his inauguration as the 47th president of the U.S. and the start of his second term in the White House, but things were far more chaotic for TikTok.
Last Friday, the Supreme Court upheld the law banning TikTok in the U.S. as of Jan. 19, writing in its decision, “Congress has determined that divestiture is necessary to address its well-supported national security concerns regarding TikTok’s data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary. For the foregoing reasons, we conclude that the challenged provisions do not violate petitioners’ First Amendment rights.”
Later that day, TikTok CEO, Shou Zi Chew posted his response in video form, going out of his way to praise Trump.
“We are grateful and pleased to have the support of a president who truly understands our platform—one that has used TikTok to express his own thoughts and perspectives, connecting with the world and generating more than 60 billion views of his content in the process,” Chew said in his video.
TikTok went dark in the U.S. a few hours early, at approximately 10:30 p.m. ET Saturday, with people attempting to access the application seeing a message saying that TikTok isn’t available for now and adding: “We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned!”
