President Trump initiated the TikTok banned but have a changed of heart

In 2020, President Donald Trump proposed a ban of the app as he viewed it as a security threat. He signed an executive order instructing that ByteDance, the China-based parent company of TikTok, divest from the app, though the order was reversed by the Biden administration in 2021.

In July 2020, then-President Donald Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, “As far as TikTok is concerned, we’re banning them from the United States.” The next month, he signed an executive order seeking to ban the app.

Four years later, in the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump praised TikTok and joined the platform.

“For all those that want to save Tik Tok in America, vote for Trump!” he said in a Sept. 4 video on Truth Social. “The other side is closing it up. But I’m now a big star on TikTok.” He has 14.8 million TikTok followers, compared with 8.52 million Truth Social followers. 

“The irony in all of this is that Donald Trump was the first one to point out there’s a problem,” Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Thursday. Warner said the Trump administration “did a great job of convincing me and overwhelming members of Congress” about the risks. 

The Biden administration agreed with President Trump and signed bipartisan legislation in April that would eventually ban TikTok unless it is sold to a U.S. company, reflecting growing concerns over national security and data privacy among lawmakers.

The legislation, which garnered support from both sides of the aisle, aims to establish stricter guidelines for the operation of apps that handle sensitive information, making it clear that the administration is taking proactive measures to safeguard American citizens’ digital privacy. As debates continue, there is a focus on finding a solution that balances security concerns with the interests of users who enjoy the platform’s unique features.

President Joe Biden’s administration has indicated that the responsibility for implementing the ban on TikTok, which has become effective today following the Supreme Court’s affirmation of the law on Friday, will rest with President-elect Donald Trump.

“Given the sheer fact of timing, this Administration recognizes that actions to implement the law simply must fall to the next Administration, which takes office on Monday,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.

President-elect Donald Trump said Sunday that he plans to issue an executive order that would give TikTok’s China-based parent company more time to find an approved buyer before the popular video-sharing platform is subject to a permanent U.S. ban. This decision comes amid rising concerns over data privacy and national security, as the platform has garnered immense popularity among American users. The additional time allocated in the executive order will allow for negotiations with potential buyers to ensure that any acquisition meets U.S. regulatory standards and alleviates fears that user data might be compromised.

As the federal ban on TikTok took effect on Sunday, President-elect Donald Trump will take credit for reinstating the App, stating his intention to restore it upon his return to office the following day. However, he may face limited options to prevent the ban, and any efforts to halt it permanently could be subject to legal challenges.

Trump’s administration has been vocal about the necessity for stringent oversight of foreign-owned tech companies operating within the United States, reflecting a broader trend of increasing scrutiny on apps and services that originate outside the country.

“Americans deserve to see our exciting Inauguration on Monday, as well as other events and conversations,” Trump wrote.

The law gives the sitting president authority to grant a 90-day extension if a viable sale is underway. Although investors made a few offers, ByteDance previously said it would not sell. In his post on Sunday, Trump said he “would like the United States to have a 50% ownership position in a joint venture,” but it was not immediately clear if he was referring to the government of an American company.

The Supreme Court unanimously decided on Friday the risk to national security posed by TikTok’s ties to China overcomes concerns about limiting speech by the app or its 170 million users in the United States.

Following the suspension of TikTok’s services, some individuals in China criticized the United States, alleging that it is suppressing the widely-used application. In a statement on the Chinese social media platform Weibo, Hu Xijin, a former editor-in-chief of the Global Times, a newspaper affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party, remarked that “TikTok’s announcement to cease operations in America represents the most troubling period in the evolution of the internet.”

“A country that claims to have the most freedom of speech has carried out the most brutal suppression of an internet application,” said Hu, who is now a political commentator. TikTok does not operate in China, where ByteDance instead offers Douyin, the Chinese sibling of TikTok that follows Beijing’s strict censorship rules.