Trump’s TikTok Gamble: Executive Order Expected As Deal Negotiations Continue, Says Report

The White House said, earlier this week, that Trump will declare a deal is being worked out to divest TikTok's US operations from its Chinese owner ByteDance.

TikTok has nearly 170 million US users. While contesting for re-election last year, Trump had nearly 15 million followers on his personal account.

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US President Donald Trump is reportedly planning to sign an executive order on Thursday which declares that a deal is being negotiated by the White House on the social media application TikTok's American operations.

This deal will also meet the requirements which were previously set out in a 2024 law, reported Reuters citing a White House source in the know.

The White House said, earlier this week, that Trump will declare a deal is being worked out to divest TikTok's US operations from its Chinese owner ByteDance and it will meet requirements which were specified in a law passed by Congress, banning the short video app unless its Chinese owner is ended.

Trump's Wavering Support For TikTok

While the credit partially belongs to the video-sharing platform for Trump's re-election victory, he has also delayed the enforcement of the legislation affecting TikTok's future.

Trump has also made several attempts to extract TikTok's US assets from the global platform, and line up American investors to ensure that the new ownership qualifies as a full divestiture, as is needed under the 2024 law.

TikTok has nearly 170 million US users. While contesting for re-election last year, Trump had nearly 15 million followers on his personal account.

Additionally, the White House has also launched an official TikTok account last month. Further, an extension of this executive order is expected on Thursday.

Trump's Tiff With TikTok

During Trump's first term as President, the Senate had passed a bill unanimously which was intended to prohibit downloading the app on devices issued by the government. 

This was done as installing the app on government-issued devices was seen as a national risk because of the fears that through the app, precious American data could be stolen or the access could allow the Communist Party of China (CPC) to conduct espionage on a remote basis.

Yet another such apprehension was that the CPC could further manipulate public opinion in America.

This further led to Joe Biden's administration passing the 'Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act' in 2024. However, the legislation has not been passed yet and the deadline to divest the ownership has been extended thrice already.

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