Donald Trump Says He'll Sign Executive Order To Reinstate TikTok On Inauguration Day
It appears that one of the first orders of business that Donald Trump will take care of as he retakes the Oval Office on Monday is to reinstate TikTok just hours after it was banned in the United States.
On January 17, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a federal law to ban the Chinese-owned social media platform in the United States, with the ban set to take effect on January 19. TikTok officially became inaccessible for the more than 170 million Americans on the app late Saturday evening.
When TikTok users in the United States open up the app, a message appears that reads, "Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now. A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now. We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office."
With the TikTok ban having been expected for quite some time, many believed that Trump would quickly step in to ‘save’ the app in the early days of his second Presidency, and it appears that is exactly what he plans to do.
He took to Truth Social on Sunday morning explaining that he will sign an executive order on January 20, Inauguration Day, to reinstate the app while the U.S. government and the current/future owners of the app try to strike a deal.
"I’m asking companies not to let TikTok stay dark! I will issue an executive order on Monday to extend the period of time before the law’s prohibitions take effect, so that we can make a deal to protect our national security. The order will also confirm that there will be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before my order," Trump wrote.
Donald Trump says he will reinstate TikTok in the U.S. during his first day back in the Oval Office. Mandi Wright / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
"I would like the United States to have a 50% ownership position in a joint venture. By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands and allow it to say up. Without U.S. approval, there is no Tik Tok. With our approval, it is worth hundreds of billions of dollars - maybe trillions," he continued.
"Therefore, my initial thought is a joint venture between the current owners and/or new owners whereby the U.S. gets a 50% ownership in a joint venture set up between the U.S. and whichever purchase we so choose."
If Trump follows through with this plan and does bring back the app for Americans, it will certainly be interesting to see the reaction from his non-supporters.