Yeah, if you’re pinning your hopes on Donald Trump stepping in to save TikTok, I don’t know that I’d be feeling entirely great about things at this stage.
With TikTok facing removal from the U.S. in just 33 days time, and U.S. regulators now calling on Apple and Google to set preparations for its removal from their app stores, President-elect Trump has remained non-committal to his campaign trail statements that he would save the app, if elected.
Because, really, his options for doing so are limited.
Earlier this month, a U.S. appeals court rejected TikTok’s bid to disqualify the U.S. government’s enforced sell-off bill, which means that TikTok either has to be sold to a U.S. owner by January 19th, or it faces removal from the region. TikTok has filed for an emergency injunction to delay the order taking effect, but right now, its avenues for further appeal are limited.
And with only weeks left till the deadline, there’s no way that TikTok will be able to arrange a sell-off in time. Which means that unless someone steps in and overrules the Senate-approved sell-off bill, TikTok is done in America.
Though maybe, possibly, Trump could still save it.
As noted, on the campaign trail, Trump repeatedly claimed that he would save the app if elected, while also noting that he had become “a big star” on TikTok. Trump used TikTok, as well as popular podcasts, to reach new audiences during the campaign, and as a result, has now gained millions of followers in the app.
And it seems that attention has enamored him to the platform.
When asked about his stance on TikTok this week, Trump said that:
“We’ll take a look at TikTok. You know, I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok.”
Though again, Trump has offered no detail on if or how he would go about rescinding the current sell-off bill.
In theory, Trump could dilute the impact of the bill via executive order, though that would also require him to undermine the Senate’s decision. Which is a significant step to take, while some have also suggested that Trump could find less direct means to evade the bill.
But again, this bill has already been approved by senators, and passed by the current sitting president. Which leaves little room for renegotiation, at least in the short-term.
Does that mean that TikTok’s cooked in the U.S.? Well, not definitively.
It might still be able to win a stay of execution, and delay the bill taking effect for long enough for Trump to take further action once inaugurated. There are still some possibilities, but right now, it’s no looking great, with no obvious solution to save the app, outside of a sell-off to a U.S. business.
So is it time to start preparing for life after TT? Well, probably, though you have a few weeks before you have to really get serious about downloading all your content and moving on.
