EXCLUSIVE: House China Committee Chairman John Moolenaar told Fox News Digital that President-elect Donald Trump is the “perfect leader” to negotiate and achieve the “deal of the century” to maintain tiktok available in the US
The Supreme Court is expected to hear oral arguments on January 10, 2025 on the law requiring the divestiture of TikTok from the control of a foreign adversary. tiktok is owned by ByteDance, a company based in Beijing and connected to the Chinese Communist Party.
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That legislation, which became law in the spring, requires ByteDance’s sale of TikTok by Jan. 19. If ByteDance is not unwound by the deadline, Google and Apple will no longer be able to feature TikTok in their app stores in the US.
Supreme Court justices said they will hold a special session on Jan. 10 to hear oral arguments in the case, an accelerated schedule that will allow them to consider the case just nine days before the Jan. 19 ban takes effect. The law allows the president to extend the deadline up to 90 days if ByteDance is in the process of divesting.
John Moolenaar, a Republican from Mississippi, is now the chairman of the House Select Committee on China. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, Moolenaar, R-Mich., said he has been meeting with major investors and has “full confidence” that Trump “will be able to do a great deal for America.”
“It will be the deal of the century,” Moolenaar said, noting that divestment “could happen in phases.”
“First with a buyout and then a massive IPO, probably the largest IPO in history,” he said. “And I think President Trump is the perfect leader to negotiate and achieve this victory.”
He added: “President Trump has the opportunity to close the deal of the century thanks to the influence of the TikTok legislation passed by Congress.”
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Moolenaar predicted that the TikTok sale could be completed quickly after he exhausts his appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court decides the case. He said a “massive” IPO could happen “down the road, as part of the solution.”
“I think TikTok and ByteDance have been dragging their feet,” Moolenaar said. “Once they realize they have to follow American law, I think this will move pretty quickly.”
TikTok and ByteDance filed an emergency request with the high court earlier this month asking judges to temporarily block enforcement of the law while they appeal a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
TikTok lawyers have argued that the law passed earlier this year is a violation of the First Amendment, noting in their Supreme Court Request that “Congress’s unprecedented attempt to single out petitioners and prevent them from operating one of this nation’s most important speech platforms” and “presents serious constitutional problems that this court is unlikely to allow to stand.”
But Moolenaar warned that without divestment, the CCP could try to “manipulate perceptions in the United States” and said they have “access to Americans’ data” through TikTok.
“It’s very profitable, very popular, and it’s a big step forward for the CCP to influence American culture,” Moolenaar said.
But regarding the CCP’s access to US citizens’ data, TikTok created its “Project Texas” initiative, which is dedicated to addressing US national security concerns.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew speaks to reporters before a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on the platform’s consumer data privacy and security practices and its impact on children , on Thursday, March 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew says “Project Texas” creates a standalone US version of the TikTok platform isolated on servers in Oracle’s US cloud environment. It was developed by CFIUS and cost the company approximately $1.5 billion to implement.
Chew has argued that TikTok is not beholden to any particular country, although executives in the past have admitted that Chinese officials had access to Americans’ data even when US-based TikTok officials did not.
TikTok claims the new initiative keeps American users’ data safe and told Fox News Digital that the data is managed “by Americans, in the United States.”
But Moolenaar says even the “Texas Project” is “really not enough.”
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“When you consider that ByteDance is affiliated with the CCP and they make the decisions about TikTok, the TikTok algorithm is very different in the United States than in China,” he explained. “There needs to be divestment, and we need to know that an American company or a company affiliated with like-minded nations, friendly nations, not adversary nations, is in charge of this application.”
He added: “Only that will enforce the law and protect our national security.”
Moolenaar said that until now, the Chinese Communist Party “had no reason to allow the sale of TikTok.”
President-elect Donald Trump speaks at a press conference at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort on December 16, 2024 in Palm Beach, Florida. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
“But that has changed, and President Trump knows from experience that the only language the CCP speaks is toughness,” Moolenaar said. “He is an incredible negotiator and our legislation is giving him the leverage he needs to close this historic deal.”
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However, Trump has expressed his support for TikTok. Earlier this month, he met with Chew at Mar-a-Lago and told reporters during a press conference before the meeting that his incoming administration will “take a look at TikTok” and the impending US ban.
“I have a warm place in my heart for TikTok,” Trump told reporters.
