Donald Trump has said he will “most likely” give the Chinese-owned TikTok app a 90-day reprieve from a potential ban in the US after he takes office on Monday morning.
The incoming president said on Saturday, in an interview with NBC News, that he was considering the extension on a Sunday deadline laid down for the parent company of the wildly popular app to sell TikTok to a non-Chinese-buyer or face a ban under US law.
“I think that would be, certainly, an option that we look at. The 90-day extension is something that will be most likely done, because it’s appropriate. You know, it’s appropriate. We have to look at it carefully. It’s a very big situation,” Trump said in the phone interview.
“If I decide to do that, I’ll probably announce it on Monday,” he said.
Trump’s comments come after the outgoing Biden administration kicked a decision on the issue over to the succeeding administration and TikTok appealed for greater “clarity and assurance” so that US tech hosts of the service would not be in legal jeopardy.
The company said on Friday it plans to “go dark” on Sunday unless it receives assurances from the current administration. Outgoing White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called TikTok’s plans to go dark “a stunt” in a statement on Saturday morning.
“We have seen the most recent statement from TikTok. It is a stunt, and we see no reason for TikTok or other companies to take actions in the next few days before the Trump administration takes office on Monday,” she said.
“We have laid out our position clearly and straightforwardly: actions to implement this law will fall to the next administration. So TikTok and other companies should take up any concerns with them,” she said.
Under US law, the president can grant an extension if he certifies to Congress that there’s a path to divestiture, there’s “significant progress” toward executing it and that a legal agreement to do so is in place. But no binding legal agreement has been made public.
After the US supreme court upheld the law banning the app, TikTok’s CEO, Shou Chew, who is slated to attend Trump’s inauguration on Monday, posted a video praising Trump’s support.
“I want to thank President Trump for his commitment to work with us to find a solution that keeps TikTok available in the United States,” he said. “This is a strong stand for the first amendment and against arbitrary censorship.”
Article by:Source – Edward Helmore in New York
