Donald Trump is continuing to engage in the legal battle over a possible TikTok ban. In a brief filed Friday, Dec. 27, the president-elect said the court should block the law from taking effect on Sunday, Jan. 19, one day before he takes office.
Trump’s brief is unusual because it does not comment on the case’s merits. TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, is suing the U.S. government, alleging a violation of its First Amendment rights.
Instead, Trump’s brief signaled his opposition to the ban and asked that he have the opportunity to resolve the issue, citing his election win as a factor.
“Through his historic victory on Nov. 5, 2024, President Trump received a powerful electoral mandate from American voters to protect the free-speech rights of all Americans –– including the 170 million Americans who use TikTok,” the brief states.
Earlier this year, Congress passed a law forcing TikTok to sell its U.S. operations or face a potential ban. The law set the deadline for ByteDance to sell or close TikTok one day before the next president took office.
The Biden administration is defending the law in court. They allege the app’s parent company operates primarily from headquarters in China. The company’s ties to China and its ruling Communist Party, they say, pose a grave threat to U.S. national security.
While Trump’s brief may not change much legally, it offers a clear signal that he opposes the ban. This could open the door to TikTok negotiating a deal to save its U.S. operations before the deadline.
The law allows a president to issue a 90-day extension if significant progress toward a sale exists.
TikTok has suffered at least one defeat along the way. An ideologically mixed three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit voted unanimously to reject TikTok’s challenge.
The Supreme Court will hear their appeal on Friday, Jan. 10.
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