The newly elected President of the United States, Donald Trump, has requested the Supreme Court to suspend the enforcement of a law requiring either a ban on TikTok or its mandatory sale.
According to a Reuters report on Saturday, December 28, the law mandates TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, to sell the platform to a U.S.-based company by January 19. Failure to comply would result in TikTok being banned in the United States.
However, January 20 is the date when Trump is scheduled to formally assume the presidency. Thus, he has urged that he be given time to seek a “political resolution” on this matter after officially taking office.
In response to Trump’s request, a hearing on the case has been scheduled for January 10.
Earlier in April, the U.S. Congress voted in favor of a bill that would ban TikTok if it were not sold within the specified timeframe. Currently, TikTok has over 170 million users in the United States.
ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, has appealed to the Biden administration to withdraw the law. However, if the court does not rule in their favor during the next hearing, TikTok will indeed be banned in the United States starting January 19—just one day before Trump takes office.
Dr. John Sauer, Trump’s chief legal advisor, stated, “President Trump is not taking any position on the merits of this debate (regarding the TikTok ban). Instead, he has requested the court to consider suspending the January 19, 2025, deadline for the ban on TikTok. This would allow the future Trump administration an opportunity to resolve the matter politically.”
Previously, in December, Trump met with TikTok’s CEO, Shou Zi Chew. Just hours before the meeting, Trump remarked that he had “a certain fascination with TikTok” and expressed his desire for the app to remain active in the U.S. for a while longer.
The newly elected president also noted that during his election campaign, the social media platform brought him millions of views.
However, Trump’s stance on TikTok has been notably inconsistent. In 2020, he initiated efforts to ban the app in the U.S. and pushed for its forced sale to American companies due to concerns over its Chinese ownership.
