Advisers to Donald Trump have discussed having the incoming president sign an executive order to “save” TikTok shortly after he’s sworn in Monday in the Capitol Rotunda — in the presence of the video app’s chief executive as well as lawmakers who backed legislation to ban the app as a national security threat.
The plans around Trump’s inauguration ceremony continued to change through the day Sunday, according to two people familiar with the discussions. Having Trump sign such a measure in such a manner would only ratchet up tensions with key GOP lawmakers who pushed through the bill that led to a brief shutdown of the social media app over the weekend.
The expected presence of TikTok CEO Shou Chew at the inaugural ceremony is already causing heartburn with some Republicans, and taking action to delay any consequences for the company in front of lawmakers could deepen their indigestion.
Signing executive orders is not a typical part of the inauguration ceremony; typically new presidents do so later in the day, after arriving at the White House.
TikTok’s Beijing-based parent company ByteDance has already had 270 days to divest and so far has refused, Speaker Mike Johnson noted on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday.
“We don’t have any confidence in ByteDance,” he said. “The law is very precise, and the only way to extend that is if there is an actual deal in the works.”
Johnson did note Trump allies Kevin O’Leary and Elon Musk have separately discussed possible takeovers, which the speaker appeared open to. However, that would likely require the approval of the Chinese government.
Johnson, Senate Intelligence Chair Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and other key Republicans reiterated Sunday that they view TikTok as a tool of the Chinese Communist Party that could be used to spy on American citizens, including children.
Their warnings came shortly after Trump vowed in a post to “save” TikTok from the law forcing the sale of the app. The Supreme Court upheld the law in a ruling last Friday.