Just hours after TikTok closed down across the U.S., President-elect Donald Trump told service providers to reinstate the platform to the 170 million Americans who had been locked out.
However, the reinstatement came with a proposal to TikTok’s Chinese owners—allow America to own half of the video-sharing app in a joint venture.
Trump has proposed a joint venture with TikTok-owner ByteDance, granting the U.S. a 50% ownership stake to address the national security concerns in the video-sharing app.
“I will issue an executive order on Monday to extend the period of time before the law’s prohibitions take effect so that we can make a deal to protect our national security,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social .
“The order will also confirm that there will be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before my order,” Trump added.
The President-elect said that gaining a 50% ownership position in the app will “keep it in good hands” and allow it to stay active in the country.
Trump said that with U.S. approval the video-sharing app is worth “hundreds of billions of dollars — maybe trillions.”
“Therefore, my initial thought is a joint venture between the current owners and/or new owners whereby the U.S. gets a 50% ownership in a joint venture set up between the U.S. and whichever purchase we so choose,” he added.
A national ban on TikTok has significant immediate and long-term implications.
The ban has sparked fierce debates over the balance between national security and freedom of expression.
As a self-proclaimed free speech advocate, Trump has argued that the ban stifles First Amendment rights and limits access to a widely-used platform for creativity and commerce.
President Joe Biden signed the law in April 2024, stemming from concerns that the Chinese government could access sensitive data of American users through ByteDance.
Despite the law, ByteDance resisted selling its U.S. operations, leading to legal challenges.
On Jan. 17, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously upheld the law, reinforcing the requirement for ByteDance to divest by Jan. 19, 2025.
On Saturday, Jan. 18, TikTok went dark for its 170 million American users before a law requiring a national shutdown of the application came into effect on Sunday.
However, on Jan. 19, 2025, TikTok restored its services after President-elect Donald Trump announced plans to delay the ban through an executive order.
Trump proposed a joint venture granting the U.S. a 50% ownership stake in TikTok to address national security concerns.