Before Donald Trump was for TikTok, he was against it, and many members of Congress agreed with him, concerned over the popular video app’s ties to the Chinese government. President Joe Biden signed a bipartisan bill into law, banning the app next year if parent company ByteDance doesn’t sell it by Jan. 19, 2025 — one day before Trump’s inauguration.
How Trump will approach TikTok when he gets into office is an open question. In 2020, Trump sanctioned the platform, barring any transactions between ByteDance and U.S. citizens (the ban ultimately went through legal hurdles and was later reversed by Biden). But then in September of this year, Trump posted a video on Truth Social: “For all of those that want to save TikTok in America, vote for Trump. The other side’s closing it up, but I’m now a big star on TikTok,” he said. “We’re not doing anything with TikTok.”
Still, many Republican lawmakers believe he’ll leave the law requiring ByteDance’s divestment alone.