Trump, Who Initiated TikTok Ban, Now Asks Supreme Court to Delay It

President-elect Donald Trump has requested that the Supreme Court temporarily pause a law set to ban TikTok in the United States on January 19, 2025, unless its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, divests ownership. The court is set to hear arguments in the case on January 10.

Trump’s legal team, led by D. John Sauer, the president-elect’s nominee for U.S. Solicitor General, filed the request on Friday. While not taking a position on the merits of the case, Sauer argued that delaying the law’s implementation would give Trump’s incoming administration time to negotiate a resolution.

“President Trump takes no position on the underlying merits of this dispute,” Sauer wrote. “Instead, he respectfully requests that the Court consider staying the Act’s deadline for divestment of January 19, 2025, while it considers the merits of this case, thus permitting President Trump’s incoming Administration the opportunity to pursue a political resolution of the questions at issue in the case.”

The law driving the controversy is the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, a bipartisan measure passed by Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden in April. The act mandates that ByteDance sell TikTok to an American company or face a nationwide ban of the platform, citing national security concerns over Chinese government influence and data access.

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court agreed to fast-track the case, scheduling oral arguments for January 10. However, the Court declined TikTok’s earlier request to pause the ban’s implementation, leaving only nine days after arguments for the Justices to issue a ruling or stay the law indefinitely.

In the filing, Trump’s legal team emphasized his intent to negotiate a resolution that addresses national security concerns while allowing the app to remain operational in the U.S.

“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 expressed by the Government—concerns which President Trump himself has acknowledged,” Sauer wrote.

Trump’s interest in the matter isn’t new. In December, he met with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew and expressed a “warm spot” for the app, which remains popular among millions of American users.

The Justice Department and TikTok also submitted briefs to the Supreme Court on Friday, reiterating arguments previously made in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. As the January 10 oral arguments approach, the clock is ticking for the Supreme Court to decide whether TikTok will remain accessible in the U.S. or face a nationwide ban.