Former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, is coming out against a possible TikTok ban in the United States.
The popular social media app is in the crosshairs of lawmakers in Congress who are looking at forcing its Chinese owners to sell it or be banned in the United States.
There are approximately 170 million users in the U.S. and it is especially popular among teenagers and young adults.
However, the heads of the Central Intelligence Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have determined that ByteDance Ltd.'s ownership of TikTok is a threat to U.S. national security.
(Photo : Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Trump on Monday came out against the possible ban - on the basis that it could lead to more business for Facebook, with which he has also tangled in the past.
"Without TikTok, you can make Facebook bigger, and I consider Facebook to be an enemy of the people," Trump said in a Monday morning phone interview with CNBC.
The support of TikTok is a reversal for Trump.
His administration unsuccessfully tried to have TikTok removed from app stores in the U.S. in 2020, CNBC reported. He then ordered ByteDance to divest TikTok within 90 days but that never happened.
Steve Bannon, a former Trump adviser, suggested Saturday that Trump was paid off to change his view.
Trump recently met with conservative hedge fund manager Jeff Yass, who has a $33 billion stake in TikTok, Newsweek reports.
"Simple: Yass Coin," Bannon wrote in a post on the conservative social media app Gettr.
Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) are sponsors of a bill that would require ByteDance to sell the platform in 165 days or see it banned in the U.S.
They say the bill addresses the immediate national security risks posed by TikTok and establishes a framework for the Biden administration to "protect Americans from future foreign adversary controlled applications."
Congress is expected to vote on the bill this week.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at a Wednesday briefing that the president supports the legislation.
And on Friday President Biden confirmed that he would sign the legislation if Congress approves it.
