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President-elect Donald Trump is reportedly expected to attempt to block a potential US ban of TikTok ahead of a looming January deadline, according to multiple sources including longtime ally Kellyanne Conway.
TikTok is fighting in court to block a federal law that would require the app’s China-based parent ByteDance to divest its stake or face a total shutdown by Jan. 19 – the day before Trump’s inauguration. The law allows the president to extend the divestment window by 90 days if “significant progress” toward a sale is made.
Trump vowed on multiple occasions that he would “save TikTok” if he was elected president – including in a Sept. 4 post on Truth Social. His support comes despite the fact that Trump spearheaded an effort to ban the app during his first term in office.
Since winning the election, Trump has not signaled whether he would try to stop a ban.
But Conway, a senior adviser during Trump’s first term – who has reportedly advocated for TikTok in Congress over the last year – told the Washington Post that she expects Trump to intervene on the social media firm’s behalf.
Three other unnamed sources who are familiar with his view on the matter backed up Conway’s assertion, according to the report.
“He appreciates the breadth and reach of TikTok, which he used masterfully along with podcasts and new media entrants to win,” Conway told the Jeff Bezos-owned paper.
“There are many ways to hold China to account outside alienating 180 million US users each month,” added Conway, who remains close to the president-elect. “Trump recognized early on that Democrats are the party of bans — gas-powered cars, menthol cigarettes, vapes, plastic straws and TikTok — and to let them own that draconian, anti-personal choice space.”
Trump transition team spokesperson Karoline Leavitt did not immediately respond to the New York Post’s request for comment.
However, she responded to questions about Trump’s campaign pledge to save the app in a statement to the Associated Press.
“The American people re-elected President Trump by a resounding margin giving him a mandate to implement the promises he made on the campaign trail,” Leavitt said. “He will deliver.”
TikTok declined to comment on the report.
Alan Rozenshtein, a former national security adviser to the Justice Department, told the Washington Post that Trump could nudge Congress to repeal the law or even tell his pick for attorney general not to enforce it.
A federal appeals court is expected to rule on TikTok’s challenge by Dec. 6, though further appeals could reach as far as the Supreme Court. The appeals could stretch well into Trump’s term in office.
As The Post reported, TikTok’s legal team faced sharp questioning in September from the three-judge panel that will decide the case.
The divestment law drew broad bipartisan support in Congress from lawmakers who say that TikTok poses a national security threat. TikTok has denied the allegations and argued that the law violates the First Amendment.
In a March interview with CNBC, Trump acknowledged that he views TikTok as a national security risk, but said he was concerned that a ban would benefit Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook – which he called “the enemy of the people.”
In another potential wrinkle, Trump is reportedly set to pick Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) as secretary of state. Rubio is a well-known China hawk and sharp critic of TikTok.
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