We are less than a month away from the U.S. Supreme Court hearing the case of TikTok’s challenge to the government’s ban on the popular social media app. However, President-elect Donald Trump has decided he wants to be involved and possibly save TikTok by asking the Supreme Court to postpone this hearing until beyond his inauguration.
In an amicus brief, Trump’s attorney D. John Sauer stated that the new president seeks the chance to resolve the issue “through political means.” However, the legislation mandating a prohibition or a sale of TikTok is set to take place on January 19th, 2025. This would be a day before Tump assumes office as President, something that his attorney has deemed “unfortunately timed”.
Trump’s attorney also contends that the new president should be afforded further time to negotiate an agreement with TikTok. TikTok’s legal team referenced a comparable issue in their petitions for a postponement of the ban. The brief also references Trump’s “dealmaking” expertise, his social platform “Truth Social,” and argues that these factors demonstrate the potential for a resolution without the need for immediate action. Sauer says:
It should be noted that Trump’s position on TikTok was significantly different back in 2020, when he sought to impose a ban back then as a result of national security concerns. However, the situation has evolved since then, and Trump now considers that banning TikTok would benefit Facebook, a company that he considers “an enemy of the people, along with a lot of the media.”
The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments regarding the ban on January 10, 2025, and it remains to be seen if they will uphold, extend, or strike down the ban based on the arguments presented during the hearing or Trump’s current request.
The law enacted in April, effective January 19th, mandates a nine-month period for ByteDance to sell off TikTok. Should the company fail to sell the application, TikTok will be withdrawn from app stores and web-hosting services in the United States. Furthermore, the legislation will allow the president to authorize a 90-day postponement if a sale of the app is already in progress.
“President Trump alone possesses the consummate dealmaking expertise, the electoral mandate, and the political will to negotiate a resolution to save the platform while addressing the national security concerns expressed by the Government—concerns which President Trump himself has acknowledged”.
phonearena.com
