After attempting to ban TikTok in 2020, Donald Trump’s views on the platform have taken a dramatic u-turn.
Legislation signed into law by Joe Biden earlier this year stipulates that the app will be shut down in the US unless it severs ties with Chinese parent company ByteDance by Jan. 19, 2025. While TikTok and its creators have sued the US government in protest of the law, the Jan. 19 deadline is looming closer and closer.
While all of this was going on, during his campaign trail, the incoming president pledged to “save TikTok.” But Donald Trump’s Cabinet tells a rather different story.
How is Donald Trump’s cabinet approaching TikTok?
As reported by NBC, at least three members of Trump’s Cabinet were involved in Project 2025: a report that the BBC describes as a “policy wish list.” The report, led by conservative think-tank the Heritage Foundation, set out policy proposals for Trump’s inauguration.
The report’s stance on TikTok is pretty unequivocal, with the foreword describing it as “industrial-scale child abuse,” with Republican politicians claiming the app causes mental illness and dependencies.
According to NBC, incoming CIA head John Ratcliffe is one of the authors of this report. The outlet claims that in his role, he is set to double down on resources to counteract China. Specifically, Ratcliffe has labeled TikTok, whose parent company ByteDance is based in China, as a “national security threat.”
On the other side, NBC points out that there are several people in Trump’s camp who not only support the presence of TikTok but have also become quite famous on the app. Examples include Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, with over 3 million followers, and Tulsi Gabbard, with 1 million followers.
On X, Kennedy suggested that a potential TikTok ban could have implications for the “freedoms, rights, and choices” of the American people. Meanwhile, Gabbard said on Joe Rogan’s podcast that she opposed the ban-or-sell law “on the grounds of free speech and civil liberties.”
The deadline to ban or sell remains Jan. 19, with Trump set to be inaugurated the following day. But how this will all play out is anyone’s guess.
