Washington, United States

President-elect Donald Trump may try to stop a looming ban on popular Chinese app TikTok, which faces a January deadline to secure non-Chinese ownership or risk losing access to US users.

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Why would Trump block the TikTok ban?

Trump is yet to announce a decision on if or how he would intervene on TikTok's behalf if necessary.

Previously, in June, he said: “I’m gonna save TikTok,” in one of his first videos on TikTok.

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As per a Washington Post report citing people familiar with the matter, Trump “appreciates the breadth and reach of TikTok, which he used masterfully along with podcasts and new media entrants to win.”

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Kellyanne Conway, who ran Trump’s first presidential campaign, said, “There are many ways to hold China to account outside alienating 180 million US users each month. Trump recognised early on that Democrats are the party of bans — gas-powered cars, menthol cigarettes, vapes, plastic straws and TikTok — and to let them own that draconian, anti-personal-choice space.”

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Why was TikTok being banned?

The potential ban was driven by bipartisan national security concerns over China’s influence, and some of Trump’s advisors believe he could intervene to save the platform, a move which would mark a significant shift in US policy on TikTok.

The law targeting TikTok requires its Chinese owner, ByteDance, to divest by 19 January, just one day before Trump’s inauguration.

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Trump could seek to delay or block enforcement of this law, possibly by leveraging legislative changes or urging his administration’s attorney general to de-prioritise enforcement. The incoming administration may also consider ByteDance’s earlier proposal, “Project Texas,” which would grant the US government significant control over TikTok’s operations, including its workforce, as a potential compromise to avoid a ban.

While the Joe Biden administration had rejected the proposal, TikTok owner ByteDance previously said that the offer was still on the table.

However, such a move would likely provoke resistance from national security hawks within Trump’s own party, including his pick for Secretary of State, Senator Marco Rubio, who has strongly advocated for a TikTok ban.

(With inputs from agencies)