President-elect Donald Trump is asking the Supreme Court to allow him to negotiate a deal to save TikTok from an imminent ban in the United States.
in a amicus curiae brief In a court filing, Trump says he “seeks the ability to resolve the issues at hand through political means once he takes office” and that “he alone possesses the consummate experience in negotiating deals, electoral mandate and the political will to negotiate a resolution.” to save the platform.”
Last week, the Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments that a bill passed by Congress banning TikTok on national security grounds violates the First Amendment. The bill gives the president broad latitude to delay its implementation if there is progress toward an agreement that ensures TikTok is not fully controlled by its Chinese parent company, ByteDance. But the deadline for that determination is Jan. 19, one day before Trump takes office.
In his Supreme Court filing, Trump calls for a suspension of the bill's Jan. 19 deadline, arguing that the deal he would negotiate would “avoid the need for this Court to decide the historically challenging First Amendment issue presented here in the current and highly accelerated process.” base.”
He maintains that having more than 14 million followers on TikTok, along with owning Truth Social, gives him a unique ability to “assess the importance of TikTok as a unique medium for free expression, including core political speech.” He also cites Elon Musk's temporary ban on x in Brazil as an example of “the historic dangers posed” by the TikTok ban.
While Trump pushed for a ban on TikTok during his first term, he changed his mind after his campaign successfully used the platform during the 2024 election. He recently met with TikTok CEO Shou Chew at Mar-a -Lake and he told a crowd that “we might have to keep this fool around for a while.”
