TikTok resumes services in US as President-elect Donald Trump intervenes, promising executive order to put off shutdown, reports Bloomberg News. Trump executive order, expected to go into effect after Trump’s inauguration, would require parent company ByteDance to either sell TikTok to a US-based company or allow a 50% ownership stake in the video-sharing app to be controlled by US investors.
Under the US control, he said TikTok would be worth “hundreds of billions of dollars—maybe trillions,” he posted on Truth Social. It had halted functioning for its 170 million users in the US following Congress’s law back in April stipulating the need to sell or wind down the application unless ByteDance, which is based in China, quit all relations with the country. The app ended its functioning in the United States after the high court on Friday confirmed the blockade imposed by Congress.
This is a complete U-turn from his previous stance, when he had been in favor of the ban. The move comes after the app’s success during his 2024 presidential campaign, where he found a significant audience on the platform. TikTok’s CEO, Shou Zi Chew, thanked Trump in a video message, expressing gratitude for his efforts to keep the app operational in the US
While Trump’s intervention was welcomed by TikTok, political divisions remain. Some Republicans, like Speaker Mike Johnson, support the ban and urge ByteDance to divest its US operations. Meanwhile, others, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, seek more time for the company to find a US buyer.
As this is happening, investors like Kevin O’Leary and Perplexity AI have made an offer to acquire or merge with TikTok’s US operation.
