Trump unveils TikTok rescue plan

President-elect Donald Trump announced plans to issue an executive order to reverse the TikTok shutdown in the US on Sunday, just hours after the popular video app went dark for its 170 million American users.  

Trump said he would seek US acquisition of a 50% stake in TikTok through a joint venture, according to a post on his social media platform. 

“I’m asking companies not to let TikTok stay dark!” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “I will issue an executive order on Monday to extend the period of time before the law’s prohibitions take effect, so that we can make a deal to protect our national security. The order will also confirm that there will be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before my order.”  

“Without US approval, there is no Tik Tok. With our approval, it is worth hundreds of billions of dollars - maybe trillions,” he added.  

The Chinese-owned app ceased operations late Saturday and disappeared from US app stores after ByteDance, its parent company, failed to meet a January 19 deadline to sell its American operations under a federal law passed last year. 

The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the constitutionality of the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which mandated the sale or shutdown, citing national security concerns. 

ByteDance’s other apps, including video editor CapCut and social platform Lemon8, were also removed from US app stores.

As TikTok went offline, rival Chinese app RedNote emerged as the most downloaded free app on Apple’s App Store, with millions of Americans adopting the “#tiktokrefugee” hashtag as they switched platforms.

Trump’s planned executive order would give ByteDance a 90-day extension to find an approved buyer. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is expected to attend Trump’s inauguration on Monday, sources familiar with the matter said. 

Neither the White House nor TikTok immediately responded to requests for comment.