House Majority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said he expected President-elect Trump to find a way to sell TikTok to a U.S. owner.
Jeffries said in an interview on CNN's “Anderson Cooper 360” on Sunday that a bipartisan bill passed by Congress last year would force the sale of TikTok from its China-based parent company, citing national security concerns. He pointed out that the purpose was to
“What was needed was a sale and U.S. ownership,” Jeffries said. “I'm hopeful that the new administration will find a way to accomplish that, because as I understand it, we're in an era of 'America First.'
Mr. Cooper interjected, referring to recent discussions about “co-ownership.” President-elect Trump said Sunday that he wants the U.S. to have “50% ownership” to keep the platform available to American users.
“Well, let's see what ideas actually come forward. That needs to be accomplished through legislation,” Jeffries said.
TikTok has cut off U.S. access to its platform ahead of a Sunday deadline for the app to be banned unless it is sold by its Chinese parent company ByteDance.
When American users opened the app, they saw a message saying, “A law has been enacted in the United States that bans TikTok. Unfortunately, this means you can't use TikTok for the time being.”
But on Sunday, TikTok announced it was “in the process” of restarting its service in the U.S., just about 12 hours after cutting off access to U.S. users.
TikTok said on social platform
The company credited the incoming Trump administration with pushing to keep the platform in U.S. app stores.
TikTok “has brought TikTok to over 170 million Americans, allowed over 7 million small businesses to thrive, and provided service providers with the clarity and assurance they need that they won't be penalized.” Thank you President Trump.”
The Hill has reached out to TikTok for comment.
