Trump’s TikTok Temptation
The incoming president wants to save the Chinese spyware app. The Supreme Court shouldn’t oblige.
On December 31, President-elect Donald Trump filed an amicus brief in an attempt to stall the demise of TikTok. This Chinese spyware app masquerading as a social media platform is owned by ByteDance, which is headquartered in Beijing. By law, TikTok must be sold, or it will be subject to an outright ban in the U.S. by January 19, one day before Trump takes office. The Supreme Court is currently evaluating the constitutionality of quashing TikTok, though Trump is arguing that the ban should be stalled so that he can negotiate a (different) resolution.
The TikTok ban has bipartisan support. It passed the House 360-58 and the Senate 79-18. It’s also worth noting that Trump originally endorsed the ban in his first term.
Why the sudden switch? TikTok is obviously Chinese spyware. The Chinese Communists collect data on TikTok users in the U.S. — even young children. TikTok also suppresses certain speech and has a toxic influence on American culture.
There are a few possibilities that might play into Trump’s switcheroo. Perhaps it’s a political move to compel Gen Z voters — the primary users of the app — to view him in a more positive light. If Daily Wire host Reagan Conrad’s sentiments are an accurate reflection of that generation, then it’s a brilliant political move.
Another possibility is that Trump successfully used TikTok as a campaign tool and would hate to lose that particular avenue to attract youthful voters.
Trump also feels that he should have the right to weigh in on the issue because, according to the Wall Street Journal editorial board, “He won the election and is a wizard on social media. Really, that’s his claim.” The editors continue, “His brief says he has special standing to represent the interests of some 170 million American TikTok users because he founded the ‘resoundingly successful social-media platform, Truth Social’ and is ‘one of the most powerful, prolific, and influential users of social media in history.’”
Trump is wrong on this one. The National Review editors lay out exactly why: “We have one president at a time, even when that president is a barely-functional lame duck. Trump has no legal standing to ask that decisions be held over until he assumes the power to make them.”
This is a very important point. Allowing Trump to not only weigh in on an issue but undo a congressional law before his allotted term sets a bad precedent for future incoming presidents. While the temptation is great, especially considering that Joe Biden is mentally no longer with us, it’s still not right.
“While prudence sometimes counsels against a departing president preempting his successor,” National Review’s editors add, “the TikTok ban is the result of carefully-considered bipartisan legislation many months in the making. Having been signed into law, it does not need to wait to be reconsidered by a new president. Indeed, the timeline requiring a resolution by January 19 was included in the statute, reflecting a congressional desire to resolve the matter before the new presidential term begins.”
The Supreme Court will hear the TikTok case this Friday. One can only hope that SCOTUS will affirm Congress in this matter and prevent Trump from making a foreign policy mistake. TikTok’s toxic influence has gone on quite long enough.
