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WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday seeking to delay by 75 days the enforcement of a ban of popular short-video app TikTok that was slated to be shuttered on Jan. 19.
While signing the order, Trump suggested the United States government should be a half owner of TikTok's US business in return for keeping the app alive and warned that he could impose tariffs on China if Beijing failed to approve a US deal with TikTok.
Trump saving TikTok represents a reversal in stance from his first term in office. In 2020, he unsuccessfully sought to ban the app -- as well as Tencent's 0700.HK WeChat -- over concerns the company was sharing Americans' personal information with the Chinese government.
More recently, Trump has said he has "a warm spot in my heart for TikTok," crediting the app with helping him win over young voters in the 2024 presidential election.
Later in 2020, Trump blessed a deal for a new ownership structure with Walmart, and Oracle, agreeing to take ownership stakes in the new company.
Trump said the agreement would include the companies paying for a $5 billion US education fund as part of the deal. The deal ultimately fell apart.
It would be unprecedented for the US government to demand an equity stake in a major company in exchange for approving its continued use.
Trump's comments also did not address whether ByteDance or other Chinese entities would be allowed to hold a stake in TikTok or if the deal would address US national security concerns about U.S. user data.
The order directs the Justice Department to issue letters to companies like Apple, Alphabet's,Google and Oracle, that supply services to TikTok "stating that there has been no violation of the statute and that there is no liability for any conduct that occurred during the above-specified period."
It is still unclear if Trump's order will be enough to convince Alphabet's, Google and Apple to restore the app to stores in the United States.
That announcement came as China indicated for the first time it would be open to a transaction keeping TikTok operating in the US
When asked about the app's restoration and Trump's desire for a deal, China's foreign ministry told a regular news briefing on Monday that it believed companies should "decide independently" about their operations and deals.
It repeated the same comment on Tuesday when asked about Trump's executive order.
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