Trump Aims to Save TikTok: Report

UPDATE Jan 16, 2025 2:00 AM CST

President-elect Trump is considering ways he could "preserve" TikTok once he takes office, according to a GOP congressman. If the Supreme Court upholds the US ban on the Chinese-owned social media platform, Trump "has been very clear" about what he'd do, Rep. Mike Waltz, Trump's pick for national security adviser, said during an appearance on Fox News Wednesday cited by the Hill. "Number one, TikTok is a great platform that many Americans use and has been great for his campaign and getting his message out. But number two, he's going to protect their data," Waltz said. "He's a deal maker. I don't want to get ahead of our executive orders, but we're going to create this space to put that deal in place."

Jan 15, 2025 1:00 PM CST

TikTok's days in the US are numbered—or are they? With a US ban slated to go into effect Sunday unless the platform divests from its Chinese-based parent company ByteDance, here are the options:

• Shut down: Though doing so isn't required, TikTok plans to close the app to US users on Sunday, according to reporting by Reuters and the Information. Users trying to access the app will reportedly be directed to a website with information about the ban and will have the option to download their data so it isn't lost. But this could be temporary: It'll be up to President-elect Trump's Justice Department to enforce the law after he takes office on Monday, and Trump has said he's against the ban.

• Sell: Before or after TikTok goes dark, ByteDance could sell US operations to a US buyer—say, Elon Musk—allowing the app to remain active. Chinese officials are reportedly interested in a sale that might give it leverage with Trump's administration. But ByteDance is opposed. And "spinning off an American-only version of TikTok could also mean the rest of the world has to download a new app to access US users' content," CNN points out.
• Do nothing: Another option is for TikTok to delay action until Trump takes office, betting his administration won't enforce the ban. The law puts the onus on "US-based companies that support TikTok to take action," not TikTok itself, per CNN. That means TikTok could do nothing, leaving it to Apple and Google to pull the app from their stores. Users who've already downloaded the app would retain access, though it's possible the companies that host TikTok's US data would stop serving it.
• Ban overturned: It's still possible the Supreme Court will overturn the ban put in place by the Biden administration, though that looks pretty unlikely at present. At Friday's hearing, Justice Samuel Alito did raise the possibility of the court temporarily blocking the law as well, per USA Today.

(More TikTok stories.)