President-elect Trump says he should be the one to make the decision on whether TikTok can continue to operate in the United States because of the unique national security and First Amendment issues raised by this case, he said in an amicus brief on Friday.
Trump’s argument comes in a “non-partisan” amicus brief filed Friday, weeks before the Supreme Court is expected to hear oral arguments on Jan. 10, 2025, on the law that requires the divestment of TikTok from the control of a foreign adversary.
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TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a company based in Beijing and connected to the Chinese Communist Party.
“Today, President Donald J. Trump filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court asking the Court to extend the deadline that would cause TikTok’s imminent shutdown and allow President Trump the opportunity to resolve the issue in a way that saves TikTok and preserves American national security once he takes office as president of the United States on January 20, 2025,” Trump’s spokesperson and incoming US communications director told Fox News Digital. Home Blanca, Steven Cheung.
“President Donald J. Trump (“President Trump”) is the 45th and soon to be 47th president of the United States of America,” the report states. “On January 20, 2025, President Trump will assume responsibility for the national security, foreign policy, and other vital executive functions of the United States.”
President-elect Donald Trump speaks at AmericaFest, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
Trump maintains that “this case presents a difficult, novel and unprecedented tension between free speech rights, on the one hand, and foreign policy and national security concerns, on the other.” “As incoming chief executive, President Trump has a particularly powerful interest and responsibility in those issues of national security and foreign policy, and is the appropriate constitutional actor to resolve the dispute through political means.
“President Trump also has a unique interest in the First Amendment issues raised in this case,” the brief states. “Through his historic victory on November 5, 2024, President Trump received a powerful electoral mandate from voters Americans to protect free speech rights. of all Americans, including the 170 million Americans who use TikTok.”
“President Trump is uniquely positioned to vindicate these interests, because ‘the president and vice president of the United States are the only elected officials who represent all of the nation’s voters,'” the brief continues.
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Trump maintains that due to his “overall responsibility for the national security and foreign policy of the United States,” President Trump opposes banning TikTok in the United States at this time and seeks the ability to resolve the issues at hand through of political means once he takes office. “.
“On September 4, 2024, President Trump posted on Truth Social: ‘FOR ALL THOSE WHO WANT TO SAVE TIK TOK IN THE UNITED STATES, VOTE FOR TRUMP!'” the writing states.
Trump maintains that “only he has the consummate experience in negotiating agreements, the electoral mandate and the political will to negotiate a resolution that saves the platform while addressing the national security concerns expressed by the Administration, concerns that the Administration itself President Trump has acknowledged.”
“Indeed, President Trump’s first term was highlighted by a series of policy triumphs achieved through historic deals, and he has a strong prospect for success in this latest national security and foreign policy effort,” the report states.
Trump notes that the 270-day deadline imposed by the new TikTok law “expires on January 19, 2025, one day before President Trump takes office as the 47th president of the United States.”
The TikTok Inc. building is seen in Culver City, California, on March 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)
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.
“This unfortunate timing interferes with President Trump’s ability to manage US foreign policy and seek a resolution to protect national security and save a social media platform that provides a popular vehicle for 170 million Americans to exercise their fundamental rights. of the First Amendment,” the brief states. “Further, the law imposes time restrictions without specifying any compelling government interest in that particular time frame.”
Trump points to the law, which “provides for an extension of the 90-day deadline under certain specific circumstances.”
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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.
“President Trump, therefore, has a compelling interest, as the incoming incarnation of the Executive Branch, in having the legal deadline suspended to allow his incoming administration the opportunity to seek a negotiated resolution of these issues,” the brief states. “If successful, such a resolution would obviate the need for this Court to decide the historically challenging First Amendment question presented here in its current and highly expeditious manner.”
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.
A view of the United States Supreme Court building. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
TikTok’s lawyers have argued that the law passed earlier this year is a violation of the First Amendment, noting in their petition to the Supreme Court that “Congress’s unprecedented attempt to single out applicants and prohibit them from operating one of the most important speech platforms in this nation” and “presents serious constitutional problems that this court is unlikely to allow to stand.”
TikTok, last year, created its “Project Texas” initiative, which is dedicated to addressing concerns about US national security.
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.”
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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.
