Speaker Mike Johnson emphasized that President-elect Donald Trump cannot bring TikTok back early in his second term without the company’s willingness to sell to a U.S.-based owner. TikTok recently halted operations in the U.S., leading Apple, Google, and Microsoft to remove the app from their app stores. A bipartisan bill banning TikTok in the U.S. if it remains owned by the Chinese-based company ByteDance came into effect, despite the efforts of TikTok to save themselves through the Supreme Court. Trump, who previously supported banning TikTok, now aims to keep the app running in the U.S. once he takes office for his second term, suggesting a 90-day extension to avoid the ban. However, Senators like Tom Cotton and Pete Ricketts celebrated the app’s ban, urging other companies to comply with the law. The law requires a qualified divestiture for TikTok to return, with ByteDance having to agree to a sale to a U.S.-based company. Johnson expressed doubts about ByteDance’s intentions and underscored that any extension would need to be backed by a concrete agreement for a sale. Trump’s team has filed a brief with the Supreme Court, seeking time to find a solution to address concerns about data privacy and national security risks posed by TikTok. Johnson hoped for a smooth transition of ownership for TikTok to ensure that American users can continue to use the platform safely.
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Speaker Johnson and two Republican senators diverge from Trump on TikTok extension
