President Trump signed an executive order on Monday to delay enforcement of the federal ban on TikTok for 75 days, though the law took effect on Sunday and it is unclear whether such a move could override it.
The order, one of Mr. Trump’s first acts after taking office, directs the attorney general to take no action to enforce the law to allow his administration “an opportunity to determine an appropriate course forward.” The order is retroactive to Sunday.
When Trump signed the order, he told reporters that “the US should be entitled to half of TikTok” if a deal is reached on the app, without elaborating. He said he thinks TikTok could be worth a trillion dollars.
The order could immediately face legal challenges, including whether the president has the authority to stop enforcement of the federal law. Companies subject to the law, which prohibits them from providing services to China-owned TikTok, may decide that the order does not provide protection from legal liability.
A federal law banning TikTok, which is owned by ByteDance, mandated that the app must be sold to a non-Chinese owner or it would be blocked. The only remedy provided by law is a 90-day extension if a likely buyer is found. Even then, it is unclear whether this option is viable given that the law is already in place. The law also limits how much of TikTok’s stake can remain under foreign ownership.
By seeking to rewrite federal law, Mr. Trump has raised serious questions about the limits of presidential power and the rule of law in the United States. Some lawmakers and legal experts have expressed concerns about the legality of the executive order, particularly in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling upholding the law on Friday and the national security concerns that prompted lawmakers to draft it.
Former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. signed a bill that overwhelmingly passed Congress last year, forcing ByteDance to sell TikTok or face a ban. TikTok has faced security concerns that the Chinese government could use it to spread propaganda or collect user data from the US. The law imposes financial penalties on app stores and cloud computing providers if they don’t stop working on the app.
TikTok briefly went dark for US users over the weekend, but returned on Sunday after Mr Trump announced on social media that he was planning an executive order. While the app was working again for people who had already downloaded it, it disappeared from the Google and Apple app stores on Saturday and remained unavailable on Monday.
Mr. Trump’s efforts to keep TikTok online have big implications for its users. The app has reshaped the social media landscape, defined popular culture, and created a livelihood for the millions of influencers and small businesses that rely on the platform.
In the executive order, Mr. Trump said his constitutional responsibility includes national security. He says he wants to consult with advisers to review the concerns raised by TikTok and the mitigating measures the company has already taken.
The administration will “pursue a solution that protects national security while saving a platform used by 170 million Americans,” according to the order, which called the timing of the legislation “unfortunate.”
The attorney general will send letters to the companies covered by the law to tell them that “no violation of the law has occurred” and that they will not be held liable for TikTok’s services within 75 days, the order said.
That may not be enough assurance, some legal experts said.
“I don’t think it’s consistent with the faithful implementation of the law to order the attorney general not to enforce it for a period of time,” said Zachary Price, a professor at the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco. “And while that’s fine, the president doesn’t have the power to remove the law itself and remove accountability for people who break it while it’s not being enforced.”
TikTok and Apple did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Google declined to comment.
TikTok’s ties to China have long raised national security concerns, including for Mr. Trump. Near the end of his first term in 2020, Mr Trump issued an executive order banning app stores from making TikTok available for download. He then pushed an American company to buy the app, but those efforts failed when he lost re-election.
Congress revived the effort last year and Mr. Biden signed it into law in April. The law targeted app stores, such as those run by Apple and Google, and cloud computing companies. It said those companies could not distribute or host TikTok unless Jan sold the app to a non-Chinese owner. 19.
Mr Trump then reversed positions. He joined the app in June and said on TV in March that there are young people who would “go crazy” without TikTok.
“I think I have a warm spot for TikTok that I didn’t have originally,” Mr Trump said as he signed the executive orders on Monday night.
TikTok challenged the law in federal court, saying it limited its users’ free speech rights as well as the company’s First Amendment rights. The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the law in December. TikTok appealed to the Supreme Court, which also upheld the law on Friday.
TikTok and some Democrats have made a last-ditch effort to stop the law. But on Saturday, TikTok stopped working in the United States and disappeared from the Apple and Google app stores a few hours before midnight. Users mourned his disappearance.
On Sunday morning, Mr. Trump announced on Truth Social that he would “issue an executive order on Monday to extend the time until the bill’s bans go into effect so we can make a deal to protect our national security.” He said he would not punish companies that broke the law to keep the app online.
A few hours later, TikTok restored its service to US users and welcomed them back with the message: “Due to the efforts of President Trump, TikTok is back in the US!
As he signed the executive orders in the Oval Office, Mr. Trump was asked why he changed his mind about the app.
“Because I have to use it,” he said.
Tripp Mickle and Nico Grant contributed reporting.
Sapna Maheshwari contributed reporting
