Trump reportedly considering executive order to circumvent TikTok ban

President-elect Donald J. Trump is considering an executive order to allow TikTok to continue operating despite an ongoing legal ban until new owners are found, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

The possible executive order, reported earlier by the Washington Post, is under discussion as TikTok faces a Sunday deadline to be banned in the United States unless it finds a new owner. The popular video sharing app is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company. Republicans have said for years that they view the app, downloaded on millions of smartphones, as a national security risk. It has become a rare issue that unites the two parties in Congress.

If the Supreme Court upholds the law, which will ban the app unless ByteDance sells it to a non-Chinese company, special treatment from Mr. Trump may be the only way for TikTok to continue operating in the United States. United in the short term. The law requires app store operators like Apple and Google and cloud computing providers to stop distributing TikTok in the United States.

An executive order could attempt to order the government not to implement the law or to delay its implementation to reach a deal, a measure that previous presidents have used to challenge laws. It's unclear whether an executive order would survive legal challenges or persuade app stores and cloud computing companies to take steps that could expose them to huge penalties.

Alan Z. Rozenshtein, a former national security adviser to the Justice Department and professor at the University of Minnesota Law School, said an executive order should be made with a medium-sized rock of salt. Such an order is not law, he said, and would not legally alter legislation passed by Congress and signed by President Biden.

Although there is speculation that the application will still work if it has already been downloaded, the law also affects Internet hosting companies like Oracle and other cloud computing providers, and it is unclear how the Video loading times and app features may react.

A person close to Mr. Trump's team said some of his allies had had vague discussions about buying TikTok, but provided no details. Mr Biden, whose term ends on Monday, a day after the ban took effect, is also under pressure to find a way to save the app.

The New York Times reported Wednesday evening that TikTok Chief Executive Shou Chew is expected to attend Mr. Trump's inauguration on Monday and has been offered a seat on the dais. TikTok declined to comment.

Mr. Chew is expected to be joined by other technology executives on the stage: Mark Zuckerberg, the co-founder of Meta; Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon; Elon Musk, Mr. Trump’s megadonor; and Tim Cook, Apple's chief executive, who personally donated $1 million to the inaugural committee.

Mr. Trump had previously supported a ban on TikTok, but publicly changed his position last year, shortly after meeting with Jeff Yass, a Republican megadonor who owns a significant stake in ByteDance.

Mr. Trump said they did not discuss the company. But Mr. Yass helped found the trading company Susquehanna International Group and is one of the biggest supporters of the conservative lobbying group Club for Growth. The group has hired people linked to Mr. Trump, such as Kellyanne Conway, his former senior adviser, and Republican adviser David Urban, to lobby for TikTok in Washington.

TikTok also worked to make inroads with the Trump team through Tony Sayegh, who was in charge of Treasury during Mr. Trump's first administration and now runs public affairs at Susquehanna.

Mr. Sayegh has a relationship with the Trump family and played a central role in the campaign's decision to join TikTok this summer. Several family members, including Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and Kai Trump, the president-elect's granddaughter, have also joined the app.

Mr. Trump's interest in TikTok is not entirely due to his advisers. He came to see how well videos about him were performing on the platform, and his advisers credited it with helping him expand his reach to a new type of voter during the campaign.

Any actions Mr. Trump could take on TikTok are complicated. The law gives the president the option to extend the sale deadline only if there is significant progress toward a deal that would put the company in the hands of a non-Chinese owner.

It also requires that the agreement can be concluded within 90 days of an extension. It's unclear how an expansion will work if Mr. Trump tries to deploy it after the ban takes effect.

TikTok has argued throughout its legal challenge to the law that such a sale was unfeasible in part because of the prescribed time limit. A group led by billionaire Frank McCourt launched a bid for the app, but without its powerful algorithm, in recent months.

Mr. Trump could also try to circumvent the law by ordering the government not to enforce it.

But app store operators and cloud computing providers could demand more than just an assurance from Mr. Trump that he won't punish them if they violate the ban, Ryan Calo said. , professor at the University of Washington Law School. The potential legal liability for companies that break the law is significant: Penalties can reach $5,000 per person who can use TikTok once the ban takes effect.

You could have a policy not to enforce this ban, said Mr. Calo, who was part of a group of professors who urged the Supreme Court to strike down the TikTok law. But I think maybe conservative companies would just say, OK, you're not going to enforce it. But it's on the books and you can apply it at any time.

Mr. Trump's attorney general, Pam Bondi, declined to say whether she would enforce the law.

I can't discuss pending litigation, she said Wednesday during her Senate confirmation hearing. But I will talk to all the career prosecutors who are handling the case.

Mr. Trump has a third option: appeal to Congress to reverse a policy he overwhelmingly endorsed with broad bipartisan support last year.

Congress can overturn that at any time, Mr. Calo said.

On Thursday, Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, said on the Senate floor that he was concerned about the possibility of a ban on TikTok.

It is clear that it will take more time to find an American buyer and not disrupt the lives and livelihoods of millions of Americans, of so many influencers who have built a good network of followers, he said. he declared. He said he also made his views clear to the Biden administration and accused Republicans of blocking a bill that would have extended the ban deadline by 270 days.

A White House official said Thursday that the administration clearly believes TikTok should operate with a U.S. owner. Because of the timing of the potential ban on a holiday weekend before the inauguration, it will be up to the next administration to enforce the law, the official said.

Catie Edmondson contributed reporting.

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