President-elect Trump believes he should be the one to make the decision on whether TikTok can continue operating in the United States, given the unique national security and First Amendment issues raised by the case. In an amicus brief filed on Friday, Trump argued that the impending divestment of TikTok from foreign adversary control should be resolved once he resumes office as President on January 20, 2025. Trump emphasized his interest and responsibility in national security and foreign policy matters as the incoming Chief Executive, stating that it presents a tension between free-speech rights and foreign policy concerns.
Trump highlighted his electoral mandate from American voters to protect the free-speech rights of all Americans, including the 170 million Americans who use TikTok. He believes he is uniquely positioned to resolve the issues surrounding TikTok due to his dealmaking expertise, political will, and the impending deadline imposed by the law that requires a sale of TikTok from ByteDance by January 19. Trump opposes banning TikTok in the U.S. and seeks the ability to negotiate a resolution to save the platform while addressing national security concerns expressed by the Government.
The law imposes a deadline for ByteDance to divest from TikTok by January 19, a day before Trump assumes office. Should ByteDance fail to divest, Google and Apple would no longer be able to feature TikTok in their app stores in the U.S. Trump argues that this timing interferes with his ability to manage foreign policy and negotiate a resolution that protects national security while preserving the platform that provides a popular vehicle for Americans to exercise their core First Amendment rights. He points out that the law contemplates a 90-day extension to the deadline, under certain circumstances.
Supreme Court Justices are expected to hear oral arguments in the case on January 10 in an expedited session, just nine days before the ban is scheduled to take effect. Trump has a compelling interest in seeing the statutory deadline stayed to allow his incoming administration to seek a negotiated resolution. TikTok and ByteDance have filed an emergency application to the high court to block the law’s enforcement while appealing a decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals. Lawyers for TikTok argue that the law is a violation of the First Amendment and creates constitutional problems that the court likely will not allow to stand.
TikTok has created the “Project Texas” initiative, dedicated to addressing U.S. national security concerns. The initiative has established a stand-alone version of the TikTok platform for the U.S., isolated on servers in Oracle’s U.S. cloud environment. The company claims that U.S. user data is managed by Americans, in America. Trump has shown support for TikTok and met with the company’s CEO, Shou Zi Chew, indicating his administration will take a closer look at the platform and the ban. He has expressed a positive stance towards TikTok and emphasized his interest in resolving the situation through political means.
As the incoming President, Trump believes he is uniquely equipped to negotiate a resolution that saves TikTok while addressing national security concerns. His amicus brief highlights his dealmaking expertise and electoral mandate to protect free-speech rights of TikTok users. The impending deadline imposed by the law requiring TikTok’s divestment presents a challenge in managing foreign policy and resolving the issues surrounding the platform. Trump seeks to extend the deadline to allow his incoming administration the opportunity to seek a negotiated resolution, obviating the need for the Supreme Court to decide on the First Amendment question in an expedited manner.
