President-elect Trump told NBC News on Saturday that the incoming administration will likely extend access to TikTok for 90 days while it assesses the situation following the Supreme Court's decision upholding the federal ban.
“A 90-day extension is appropriate, so it's probably going to happen. Well, it's appropriate. We need to think about it carefully,” Trump said. said on the phone With “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker. “It's a very big situation.”
He said he would “probably” announce his decision on Monday, when he is sworn in for a second term at the White House.
The 90-day extension was granted as part of a bipartisan bill passed by Congress last April that would require TikTok's Chinese parent company ByteDance to withdraw from the app or be banned from U.S. app stores. He has 270 days to face the ban.
TikTok warned in a statement that it would “go dark” on Sunday unless President Biden intervenes. But the White House called the statement a “stunt” and insisted there was no need for the app to take action before Trump's inauguration.
“We have reviewed TikTok's latest statement,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement Saturday, adding, “This is a stunt and why TikTok and other companies would take action days before TikTok. I can't find it,” he said. The Trump administration takes office on Monday. ”
The president-elect said Friday that he will consider the app's future once he officially takes office. And the White House said at the time that banning TikTok would be the responsibility of the Trump administration.
