President-elect Trump will take action to preserve TikTok upon taking office, his incoming national security adviser said Wednesday, with a deadline looming for the app’s owner to sell or face a ban in the United States.
Mike Waltz told Fox News that Trump intends to take action both to maintain access to an app that the president-elect has repeatedly praised in recent weeks, and to protect users’ data.
“TikTok itself is a fantastic platform,” Waltz said. “I wish I could have it on my phone. The algorithm is amazing. We’re going to find a way to preserve it but protect people’s data. And that’s the deal that will be in front of us.”
Waltz appeared on “Special Report” with Bret Baier shortly after The Washington Post reported Trump was considering different options to save TikTok in the face of a looming ban, including via an executive order.
A bipartisan law signed by President Biden in April requires TikTok to divest from China-based owner ByteDance, or face a ban in the U.S. beginning Sunday.
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments over the law last week, during which the justices expressed sympathy with the government’s national security concerns about the platform’s ties to China.
The high court is expected to issue some type of ruling to either uphold the law that would ban TikTok, strike down the law on First Amendment grounds and save the app, or step in on a temporary basis to save TikTok until the court issues its final opinion.
“If the Supreme Court comes out with a ruling, you know, in favor of the law, President Trump has been very clear,” Waltz said. “Number one, TikTok is a great platform that many Americans use, and was great for his campaign in getting his message out. But, number two, he is going to protect their data.
“There’s people out there who don’t want the U.S. government seeing all their data and passwords. We certainly don’t want the Chinese government seeing all their data and passwords,” he continued. “He is a dealmaker. I don’t want to get ahead of our executive orders but we’re going to create the space to put that deal in place.”
