The Supreme Court did not grant TikTok a last-minute reprieve.
If a popular social networking site is to continue operating in the US, it should be saved by politicians or businessmen, not judges.
And policymakers, forced to balance national concerns about China and TikTok’s huge American user base, are taking note. This includes the future president, who is both a politician and a businessman.
Shortly after the high court’s ruling, President-elect Donald Trump wrote to Truth Social that he would review the situation, but that everyone should respect the Supreme Court’s decision.
“My decision about TikTok will be made in the near future, but I have to have time to consider the situation. Stay tuned!” he said.
Trump’s legal team has already weighed in on the case before the Supreme Court, asking the justices to delay the ruling to give him time to find a solution.
“Only President Trump has the superior deal-making experience, electoral mandate and political will to negotiate a resolution to save the platform,” the summary said.
They didn’t get their wish, but several Trump aides have since raised the possibility of a presidential executive order on Monday afternoon delaying the ban. Trump also spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping, and the topic of TikTok came up.
Trump is filling his foreign policy team with China hawks like Marco Rubio and Michael Waltz, who represent the popular right-wing view that the Chinese Communists are more than an economic rival, they are a geopolitical adversary.
But Trump has also spent the past year campaigning for the support of social media influencers — and their young followers — many of whom are TikTok fans.
If the incoming president can ultimately find a way to satisfy national security concerns while keeping TikTok running in the U.S., it could give him an early political victory in his second term and be celebrated by loyal TikTok users.
There is a certain irony in this, since it was conservatives – including Trump – who first advocated for the ban.
