Trump Meets TikTok CEO As App Battles US Ban Deadline

US President-elect Donald Trump is meeting with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew as the social media company battles efforts to have the app banned in the United States.

Trump was scheduled to meet Chew at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Monday, according to CBS News, citing sources familiar with the meeting.

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A law passed earlier this year mandates that TikTok be banned unless its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, sells the app before January 19. In response, TikTok has filed an emergency application with the US Supreme Court, requesting a delay in the enforcement of the ban.

The US government has pushed for the sale or ban of TikTok, citing concerns over its alleged ties to the Chinese government—claims that both TikTok and ByteDance have consistently denied. The law’s supporters argue it is necessary to protect national security from the potential threats posed by foreign-controlled apps.

Despite previously supporting a TikTok ban during his first term, Trump opposes the current ban, in part because he believes it could benefit Facebook, a company he has accused of helping to undermine his 2020 election campaign.

Trump’s second term, however, won’t begin until his inauguration on January 20, the day after the deadline set in the law.

In its Supreme Court filing, TikTok requested a “modest delay” to the ban’s enforcement, asking for time to allow the Court to review the case and to give the incoming administration an opportunity to assess the issue. The company argued that TikTok is “one of the most significant speech platforms” in the US and warned that the ban would cause “immediate irreparable harm” to both the company and its users.

Earlier this month, a federal appeals court rejected TikTok’s request to overturn the ban, upholding the law as the result of “extensive, bipartisan action” by Congress and successive administrations.

At a press conference on Monday, Trump stated that his administration would “take a look at TikTok.”

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“I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok because I won the youth vote by 34 points,” he said. “There are those who say TikTok played a role in that. It had an impact.”

While a majority of young voters supported Trump’s Democratic opponent, Kamala Harris, in the November election, Trump did see a notable shift toward his support among voters aged 18 to 29 since the 2020 election. Trump, who only joined TikTok in June, gained millions of followers on the platform during his campaign.

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