President-elect Donald Trump has asked the Supreme Court to delay its ban on TikTok. He argues that the decision about the social media app's fate should wait until he assumes office. The deadline for TikTok's potential shutdown is January 19, the day before the inauguration.
In an amicus brief filed on Friday "supporting neither party," Trump said that because of the exceptional national security and First Amendment issues raised in the case, he should be the one to decide on the social media ban.
“President Trump alone possesses the consummate dealmaking expertise, the electoral mandate, and the political will to negotiate a resolution to save the platform while addressing the national security concerns,” John Sauer, one of Trump’s appellate attorneys, wrote in a statement. “In light of these interests—including, most importantly, his overarching responsibility for the United States’ national security and foreign policy—President Trump opposes banning TikTok in the United States at this juncture and seeks the ability to resolve the issues at hand through political means once he takes office.”
The amicus brief described Trump as one of the “most powerful, prolific, and influential users of social media in history.”
“Indeed, President Trump’s first Term was highlighted by a series of policy triumphs achieved through historic deals, and he has a great prospect of success in this latest national security and foreign policy endeavor,” Sauer continued.
Trump has previously said the case presents an “unprecedented, novel, and difficult tension between free-speech rights on one side and foreign policy and national security concerns on the other." He has vowed to protect Americans' First Amendment rights, including those of the “170 million Americans who use TikTok."
Steven Cheung, the president-elect’s White House Communications Director, said that Trump is working to save TikTok and uphold the nation’s national security as he prepares to resume responsibility for America’s foreign policy and other executive functions.
“Today, President Donald J. Trump has filed an amicus brief in 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 resumes office as President of the United States on January 20, 2025,” Cheung told Fox News Digitial.
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