Donald Trump's TikTok shift: From backing a ban to being hailed 'a saviour'

During his first term as president, Donald Trump led the effort to ban TikTok, the hugely popular video-sharing site he said posed a threat to US national security. But on the eve of his return to the White House, the president-elect is being hailed as the app's saviour.

After going dark for users this weekend, Trump said on his social media site that he would issue an executive order after he's sworn in for a second term on Monday delaying a TikTok ban "so that we can make a deal to protect our national security".

He said the order would make clear that companies will not be held liable for violating a law that aimed to force TikTok's sale by its China-based parent company. Hours later, the app returned, to the relief of its legions of dedicated users.

"Thanks for your patience and support. As a result of President Trump's efforts, TikTok is back in the US!" read the announcement.

Trump's legal authority to unilaterally decide not to enforce the law, which passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in April and was upheld by the Supreme Court on Friday, is unclear.

But the rapid developments over the weekend served as a reminder of how dramatically debates over technology, social media and national security have changed since Trump was last in the White House.

It also signalled how closely Trump is following those shifts after waging a successful campaign in which he made inroads with voters in part by harnessing the appeal of some social media platforms.

'Beholden to Trump'

Trump can now take credit for reviving an app with 170 million users that is especially popular with younger Americans, many of whom spend hours a day on the platform to get news, make money and find entertainment.

"This is one of those things where the domestic politics has become so upside down and crazy that it turns out there’s only upside for Trump now," said Bill Bishop, a China expert who has been closely following the back-and-forth.

If the ban ends up being enforced, he said, Trump will say it was on outgoing President Joe Biden’s watch.

"And if it does come back then Trump is a saviour. And he will be rewarded both by users" as well as the company, which he said is now "beholden to Trump" and will have an incentive to make sure content on the platform is favourable to him.

TikTok’s move comes as tech companies and CEOs have been working furiously to improve their standing with Trump.

X owner and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has enjoyed unprecedented access to the president-elect after spending more than $200 million (around €195 million) and personally campaigning to help him get elected.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago and reshaped his social media platforms’ policies to align more closely with Trump’s worldview earlier this month, ending third-party fact-checking, loosening rules against hate speech, ending his company’s diversity and equity policies and naming Dana White, the president and CEO of Ultimate Fighting Championship and a familiar figure in Trump’s orbit, to its board.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Amazon, Meta and Google have all pledged to donate $1 million (€990,000) each to Trump’s inaugural fund.

The companies have a lot on the line, including regulatory challenges.

Although federal regulators began cracking down on Google and Facebook during Trump’s first term as president - and flourished under Biden - most experts expect his second administration to ease up on antitrust enforcement and be more receptive to business mergers.

TikTok also worked to curry Trump's favour, with CEO Shou Chew meeting with him at Mar-a-Lago in December and later present in Washington over the weekend for Trump's inauguration.

In a video responding to the US Supreme Court decision, Chew was careful to praise Trump and cast the app's fate as dependent on him.

'Support of a president'

"On behalf of everyone at TikTok and all our users across the country, 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.

"We are grateful and pleased to have the support of a president who truly understands our platform".

When the app went dark, it had initially posted a simple message informing users of the change, but later updated the language to include Trump.

"Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now," it read.

"A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the US Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now. We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned!"

The federal law had required TikTok parent company ByteDance to cut ties with the platform’s US operations by Sunday. The Biden administration had stressed in recent days that it did not intend to enforce the ban before Trump took office.

But TikTok said it would nonetheless "go dark" because the Biden administration had not provided "necessary clarity and assurance" to service providers.

Trump said in an interview with NBC News on Saturday that he was considering granting ByteDance a 90-day extension to sell. ByteDance has repeatedly refused to sell, but the company is being eyed by investors including Trump’s former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and billionaire businessman Frank McCourt.