(NewsNation) — President-elect Donald Trump plans to help the popular social media app TikTok stay in operation under his presidency.
And now, it looks like it is powering back up despite a shutdown in the United States late Saturday night before the ban upheld by the Supreme Court took effect on Sunday.
“In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service,” TikTok said in a statement on Sunday afternoon.
“We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive. It’s a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship. We will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States.”
Trump had said earlier Saturday that he would “most likely” give TikTok a 90-day extension but left no one in any doubt via Truth Social on Sunday morning.
The president-elect kept it short initially, writing on his social media platform: “SAVE TIKTOK!”
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Shortly after, Trump said he would not let the app “stay” dark, saying he would issue an executive order on Monday to “extend the period of time before the law’s prohibitions take effect, so that we can make a deal to protect our national security.”
He proposed that the U.S. have 50% ownership in a “joint venture.”
“By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands and allow it to say up. Without U.S. approval, there is no Tik Tok. With our approval, it is worth hundreds of billions of dollars – maybe trillions,” he wrote.
TikTok began to restore service to U.S. users Sunday afternoon and credited Trump again for pushing to keep the app operational.
“In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service,” TikTok said in a statement posted to the social platform X.
“We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive,” it continued.
Upon opening the app shortly late last night, users were greeted with a message: “A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now.”
“We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned!” the notice continued.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-AK, and Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-NE, posted a joint statement to X on Sunday morning stating that there is “no legal basis” for an extension of any kind.
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“We commend Amazon, Apple, Google and Microsoft for following the law and halting operations with ByteDance and TikTok, and we encourage other companies to do the same. The law, after all, risks ruinous bankruptcy for any company who violates it,” the statement read.
“Now that the law has taken effect, there is no legal basis for any kind of ‘extension’ of its effective date. For TikTok to come back online in the future, ByteDance must agree to a sale that satisfies the law’s qualified-divestiture requirements by severing all ties between TikTok and Communist China.
“Only then will Americans be protected from the grave threat posed to their privacy and security by a communist-controlled TikTok.”
Elon Musk, who has become close with Trump, posted to his own social media app X: “I have been against a TikTok ban for a long time, because it goes against freedom of speech. That said, the current situation where TikTok is allowed to operate in America, but 𝕏 is not allowed to operate in China is unbalanced. Something needs to change.”
In 2020, Trump tried to ban TikTok with an executive order, but two courts later shut his efforts down.
