WASHINGTON – Just a few hours later a brief stop of TikTok across the country, President-elect Donald Trump proposed letting the United States own half of the popular social media platform to satisfy a law requiring the Chinese-owned app to be sell its activities in the United States.
Trump said he decided to save TikTok because the platform, used by 170 million Americans, helped him reach young voters, had a “huge” audience, and that ceasing its operations in the states -United States would cost Americans jobs.
“We have no choice. We have to save a lot of jobs,” Trump said Sunday at a rally ahead of his inauguration. “We don’t want to give our business to China. We don’t want to give our business to other people.”
He told the crowd at a rally at Capital One Arena that Congress gave the president the right to make a deal and “do whatever he wants” to satisfy the requirements of the law that took effect Sunday . Congress has ordered TikTok to divest from ByteDance or face a ban on national security grounds.
“So I said, very simply, a joint venture,” Trump told the crowd. “So if TikTok is worth nothing, zero without approval, you know, you don’t approve, they’re out of business.”
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That way, he said, the company would maintain its value. “I will approve, but let the United States of America own 50% of TikTok,” he added. “We’re going to have a lot of bidders. The United States is going to create what we call a joint venture.”
Trump said the U.S. government would not invest money, but would approve the deal.
“So I don’t know. Looks like it’s working. What do you think, okay?” he asked. “So whether you like TikTok or not, we’re going to make a lot of money.”
Earlier today, Trump said he would sign a decree when he returns to the White House on Monday afternoon, it would give TikTok the opportunity to operate in the United States without going into detail. Last week, the Supreme Court respected bipartisan law that President Joe Biden signed and refused to apply or intervene to stop while it is going off.
