President Joe Biden reportedly has no intention of enforcing a TikTok ban that is set to go into effect on Sunday, deferring the fate of the ban to President-elect Donald Trump one day before he takes office.
Why It Matters
A bipartisan bill banning TikTok was passed by Congress and signed into law by Biden last year. While Trump previously called for a ban on the app due to its ties to the Chinese government, he has more recently been opposed to the ban and indicated that he will seek to reverse it.
What To Know
In a report published on Thursday night, an anonymous U.S. official told The Associated Press that Biden would not enforce the ban if it goes into effect on Sunday as expected. The decision on implementing the law banning TikTok, and whether to enforce the ban at all, will instead fall on the incoming Trump administration.
Newsweek reached out for comment to the White House and the office of Trump via email on Thursday night.
ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP
Republican Congressman Mike Waltz, Trump’s nominee for national security adviser, told Fox News on Wednesday that the president-elect was working on “a deal” that would save the app from being banned, while crediting it in part for Trump’s 2024 election win.
“President Trump has been very clear: Number one, TikTok is a great platform that many Americans use and has been great for his campaign and getting his message out,” Waltz said.
“But number two, he’s going to protect their data,” he added. “He’s a deal maker. I don’t want to get ahead of our executive orders, but we’re going to create this space to put that deal in place.”
This is a developing story and will be updated with additional information.
