Trump issues executive order granting TikTok an extension
On Friday, the Supreme Court confirmed the validity of the sell-or-ban law.
TroibNews 
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday to postpone the enforcement of a TikTok ban for 75 days, just hours after his inauguration ceremony and a day after a federal ban came into effect.
The order instructs his attorney general not to impose fines on app stores and service providers that continue assisting TikTok. Furthermore, Trump plans to have his administration "issue a letter to each provider stating that there has been no violation of the statute and that there is no liability for any conduct that occurred."
Some experts and Republican lawmakers have expressed skepticism regarding the legality of these measures.
By signing the order on his first day in office, Trump staged a theatrical rebuke to Republican China hawks who insist that the app must be sold due to concerns that its Beijing-based owner, ByteDance, poses a national security risk.
Earlier that day, TikTok CEO Shou Chew attended the inauguration next to Tulsi Gabbard, a nominee for director of national intelligence. The company also hosted a party in Washington to celebrate the inauguration.
The executive order followed a tumultuous weekend. On Friday, the Supreme Court upheld the law mandating a sale or ban. In a preemptive move, TikTok suspended its services on Saturday, despite not being legally required to do so, but restored access to U.S. users a day later after Trump indicated he would sign an order to protect the app.
Trump had previously vowed to intervene on behalf of TikTok and proposed a “joint venture” in a Truth Social post, suggesting that “the U.S. gets a 50% stake.”
On Monday, he reiterated his stance on partial government ownership, stating, “If I do the deal for the United States, then I think we should get half.” He also remarked, “TikTok is worthless, worthless if I don’t approve it. It has to close.”
While Trump declared a 90-day window for finalizing the deal, this deadline was not included in the executive order he signed.
The joint venture concept raised First Amendment questions and would likely require agreement from China, according to Alan Rozenshtein, a former national security attorney at the Justice Department and law professor at the University of Minnesota. Trump mentioned that as part of the U.S. stake, they would “police” TikTok “a little bit or a lot.”
“The nature of government ownership of a social media platform would raise truly insane First Amendment problems,” Rozenshtein said on the PMG Tech podcast. “What I worry is that we have now created a situation … where we have just given the leader of China huge leverage over American foreign policy because of some short-form video app.”
Trump and Xi discussed TikTok during a call prior to his inauguration.
Beijing indicated on Monday that it was willing to collaborate with Trump but would leave TikTok and ByteDance, which have so far resisted any sale discussions, to decide their next steps.
TikTok's situation has divided the Republican Party, just months after Congress passed the legislation mandating its sale or ban with significant bipartisan support.
On Monday, Sen. Rand Paul teamed up with Rep. Ro Khanna to introduce a bill aimed at repealing the law. Their proposed solution would require a filibuster-proof majority in Congress, a considerable challenge.
Pam Bondi, Trump's nominee for attorney general, declined to comment on whether she would enforce the law during her confirmation hearings.
Republican China hawks have stated that they expect nothing short of a complete separation from ByteDance. However, lawmakers are divided on whether Trump should delay enforcement now that the ban is in place.
“The upheld law creates a clear and unambiguous pathway for TikTok to continue operating in the US: a full divestment that cuts the [Chinese Communist Party] out,” asserted House Select China Committee Chair John Moolenaar on Sunday. “The time is now for ByteDance to come to the table, and if they do, I’m confident that President Trump will ensure TikTok is sold to a company the American people can trust.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson stated on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday that Congress “will enforce the law” and insisted that there must be “a full divestiture” of TikTok from its Chinese parent company, rather than just a 50% sale.
“The law is very precise, and the only way to extend that is if there is an actual deal in the works,” the speaker noted, mentioning that Trump allies Kevin O’Leary and Elon Musk have separately considered potential bids. O’Leary and billionaire Frank McCourt met with Moolenaar on Sunday to discuss TikTok.
Senate Select Intelligence Committee Chair Tom Cotton and Sen. Pete Ricketts cautioned service providers on Sunday that continuing to host TikTok in their app stores could lead to significant legal and financial repercussions.
Despite Trump’s demand that U.S. companies “not let TikTok stay dark,” Apple and Google had not resumed hosting the app by Monday, while Oracle reportedly reactivated TikTok’s servers. The law imposes a $5,000 daily fine for each user that accesses TikTok, which could escalate into trillions given the platform's 170 million American users.
However, it remains uncertain who would pursue these charges in the absence of action from the Justice Department—potentially shareholders or state attorneys general—and whether such actions could be conducted without causing substantial harm to the American economy. The penalties could potentially obliterate Apple’s $3.4 trillion market cap in a matter of days.
The situation is creating turmoil not just in Congress. Trump ally and Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale expressed that the executive order overstepped bounds by disregarding the other branches of government. “Today he becomes president of the United States, which is a republic, and republics do not have kings,” Lonsdale commented in an op-ed. “In America, we abide by the rule of law. Even when the law comes for a popular app—TikTok—that the MAGA king likes.”
Mark B Thomas contributed to this report for TROIB News
The order instructs his attorney general not to impose fines on app stores and service providers that continue assisting TikTok. Furthermore, Trump plans to have his administration "issue a letter to each provider stating that there has been no violation of the statute and that there is no liability for any conduct that occurred."
Some experts and Republican lawmakers have expressed skepticism regarding the legality of these measures.
By signing the order on his first day in office, Trump staged a theatrical rebuke to Republican China hawks who insist that the app must be sold due to concerns that its Beijing-based owner, ByteDance, poses a national security risk.
Earlier that day, TikTok CEO Shou Chew attended the inauguration next to Tulsi Gabbard, a nominee for director of national intelligence. The company also hosted a party in Washington to celebrate the inauguration.
The executive order followed a tumultuous weekend. On Friday, the Supreme Court upheld the law mandating a sale or ban. In a preemptive move, TikTok suspended its services on Saturday, despite not being legally required to do so, but restored access to U.S. users a day later after Trump indicated he would sign an order to protect the app.
Trump had previously vowed to intervene on behalf of TikTok and proposed a “joint venture” in a Truth Social post, suggesting that “the U.S. gets a 50% stake.”
On Monday, he reiterated his stance on partial government ownership, stating, “If I do the deal for the United States, then I think we should get half.” He also remarked, “TikTok is worthless, worthless if I don’t approve it. It has to close.”
While Trump declared a 90-day window for finalizing the deal, this deadline was not included in the executive order he signed.
The joint venture concept raised First Amendment questions and would likely require agreement from China, according to Alan Rozenshtein, a former national security attorney at the Justice Department and law professor at the University of Minnesota. Trump mentioned that as part of the U.S. stake, they would “police” TikTok “a little bit or a lot.”
“The nature of government ownership of a social media platform would raise truly insane First Amendment problems,” Rozenshtein said on the PMG Tech podcast. “What I worry is that we have now created a situation … where we have just given the leader of China huge leverage over American foreign policy because of some short-form video app.”
Trump and Xi discussed TikTok during a call prior to his inauguration.
Beijing indicated on Monday that it was willing to collaborate with Trump but would leave TikTok and ByteDance, which have so far resisted any sale discussions, to decide their next steps.
TikTok's situation has divided the Republican Party, just months after Congress passed the legislation mandating its sale or ban with significant bipartisan support.
On Monday, Sen. Rand Paul teamed up with Rep. Ro Khanna to introduce a bill aimed at repealing the law. Their proposed solution would require a filibuster-proof majority in Congress, a considerable challenge.
Pam Bondi, Trump's nominee for attorney general, declined to comment on whether she would enforce the law during her confirmation hearings.
Republican China hawks have stated that they expect nothing short of a complete separation from ByteDance. However, lawmakers are divided on whether Trump should delay enforcement now that the ban is in place.
“The upheld law creates a clear and unambiguous pathway for TikTok to continue operating in the US: a full divestment that cuts the [Chinese Communist Party] out,” asserted House Select China Committee Chair John Moolenaar on Sunday. “The time is now for ByteDance to come to the table, and if they do, I’m confident that President Trump will ensure TikTok is sold to a company the American people can trust.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson stated on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday that Congress “will enforce the law” and insisted that there must be “a full divestiture” of TikTok from its Chinese parent company, rather than just a 50% sale.
“The law is very precise, and the only way to extend that is if there is an actual deal in the works,” the speaker noted, mentioning that Trump allies Kevin O’Leary and Elon Musk have separately considered potential bids. O’Leary and billionaire Frank McCourt met with Moolenaar on Sunday to discuss TikTok.
Senate Select Intelligence Committee Chair Tom Cotton and Sen. Pete Ricketts cautioned service providers on Sunday that continuing to host TikTok in their app stores could lead to significant legal and financial repercussions.
Despite Trump’s demand that U.S. companies “not let TikTok stay dark,” Apple and Google had not resumed hosting the app by Monday, while Oracle reportedly reactivated TikTok’s servers. The law imposes a $5,000 daily fine for each user that accesses TikTok, which could escalate into trillions given the platform's 170 million American users.
However, it remains uncertain who would pursue these charges in the absence of action from the Justice Department—potentially shareholders or state attorneys general—and whether such actions could be conducted without causing substantial harm to the American economy. The penalties could potentially obliterate Apple’s $3.4 trillion market cap in a matter of days.
The situation is creating turmoil not just in Congress. Trump ally and Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale expressed that the executive order overstepped bounds by disregarding the other branches of government. “Today he becomes president of the United States, which is a republic, and republics do not have kings,” Lonsdale commented in an op-ed. “In America, we abide by the rule of law. Even when the law comes for a popular app—TikTok—that the MAGA king likes.”
Mark B Thomas contributed to this report for TROIB News
