Trump’s choose for nationwide safety adviser, Florida Rep. Mike Waltz, mentioned in an interview on Wednesday that the president-elect is exploring choices to “preserve” TikTok.
Final week, the Supreme Courtroom heard oral arguments in a authorized problem to the statute introduced by TikTok, its China-based dad or mum firm ByteDance, and customers of the app. The Justices appeared prone to uphold the legislation, which requires ByteDance to divest TikTok on nationwide safety grounds or face a ban in one in every of its largest markets.
“If the Supreme Court comes out with a ruling in favor of the law, President Trump has been very clear: 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 mentioned.
“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,” he added.
Individually on Wednesday, Pam Bondi, Trump’s choose for lawyer normal, dodged a query throughout a Senate listening to on whether or not she’d uphold a TikTok ban.
Trump has reversed his place on the favored app, having tried to ban it throughout his first time period in workplace over nationwide safety considerations. He joined TikTok throughout his 2024 presidential marketing campaign and his crew used it to attach with youthful voters, particularly male voters, by pushing content material that was typically macho and aimed toward going viral. He pledged to “save TikTok” in the course of the marketing campaign and has credited the platform with serving to him win extra youth votes.
Initially Printed: January 15, 2025 at 6:03 PM PST
