Many technology leaders and companies have courted President-elect Donald J. Trump in recent weeks. Everyone from Meta's Mark Zuckerberg to amazon founder Jeff Bezos visited Trump at Mar-a-Lago, complimented him on x, and donated to his inaugural fund.
But TikTok has taken those methods to the next level.
As the Chinese-owned social app fights a federal law that bans it in the United States unless it is sold, it publicly referenced Trump and then thanked him for his support in statements and videos since Friday. He even embedded his compliments directly into the app so its 170 million American users could see them:
“As a result of President Trump's efforts, TikTok is back in the US,” a pop-up message read on Sunday.
TikTok CEO Shou Chew filmed his own thank you video to Trump last week, even referencing the president's personal TikTok account. Chew also visited Trump at Mar-a-Lago and was invited to sit in a position of honor on the dais at Trump's inauguration on Monday.
TikTok “will do everything possible to please the authorities” while facing this ban, said Anupam Chander, a professor of law and technology at Georgetown University and an expert on the global regulation of new technologies.
“TikTok seeks the president's favor in this way because its very existence in this country depends on him,” Chander said in an interview on Sunday. “He's their lifeline and that's why they make sure they're on his good side.”
TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump may not be able to save the app in the long term, as he has stated. He promised early Sunday to issue an executive order to give ByteDance, TikTok's Chinese owner, more time to make a sale that complies with the law, but it's unclear whether he can extend the timeline now that the law has gone into effect, or If you can, you have a sale in mind that would comply with the terms of the law. Trump seems committed. Even before his post promising an executive order, he posted on the social media platform Truth Social in all caps: “SAVE TIKTOK!”
The Biden administration also tried to make clear this weekend that TikTok did not need to shut down on Sunday to comply with the law, calling the decision to shut down “a stunt.”
“We have stated our position clearly and directly: Actions to implement this law will fall to the next administration,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.
Trump's support for TikTok is relatively new. During his first term, he attempted to ban the app in the country unless ByteDance sold it to an American company.
But in March 2024, he changed his stance, at the time of a meeting with Jeff Yass, a billionaire investor and Republican mega-donor who owns a significant stake in ByteDance. Trump has said they did not discuss the company. Mr. Yass helped found the trading company Susquehanna International Group.
TikTok has also sought a line toward Republicans and the Trump campaign through Tony Sayegh, a former Treasury official in the Trump administration. Sayegh, who leads public affairs for Susquehanna, was a key part of the Trump campaign's decision to join TikTok this summer.
Trump was an instant hit on TikTok, where he now has more than 14 million followers. Several members of his family, including Donald Trump Jr. and his granddaughter Kai Trump, have also joined the app.
