President-elect Donald Trump requested the Supreme Court on Friday to pause the potential TikTok ban from going into impact till his administration can pursue a “political decision” to the problem.
The request got here as TikTok and the Biden administration filed opposing briefs to the court docket, during which the corporate argued the court docket ought to strike down a legislation that might ban the platform by Jan. 19 whereas the federal government emphasised its place that the statute is required to get rid of a nationwide safety danger.
“President Trump takes no place on the underlying deserves of this dispute. Instead, he respectfully requests that the Court take into account staying the Act’s deadline for divestment of January 19, 2025, whereas it considers the deserves of this case,” stated Trump’s amicus transient, which supported neither social gathering within the case and was written by D. John Sauer, Trump’s alternative for solicitor basic.
The argument submitted to the court docket is the most recent instance of Trump inserting himself in nationwide points earlier than he takes workplace. The Republican president-elect has already begun negotiating with different international locations over his plans to impose tariffs, and he intervened earlier this month in a plan to fund the federal authorities, calling for a bipartisan plan to be rejected and sending Republicans again to the negotiating desk.
He has been holding conferences with overseas leaders and enterprise officers at his Mar-a-Lago membership in Florida whereas he assembles his administration, together with a gathering final week with TikTok CEO Shou Chew.
Trump has reversed his place on the favored app, having tried to ban it throughout his first time period in workplace over nationwide safety considerations. He joined the TikTok throughout his 2024 presidential marketing campaign and his staff used it to attach with youthful voters, particularly male voters, by pushing content material that was typically macho and geared toward going viral.
He stated earlier this 12 months that he nonetheless believed there have been nationwide safety dangers with TikTok, however that he opposed banning it.
The filings Friday come forward of oral arguments scheduled for Jan. 10 on whether or not the legislation, which requires TikTok to divest from its China-based guardian firm or face a ban, unlawfully restricts speech in violation of the First Amendment. The legislation was was signed by President Joe Biden in April after it handed Congress with broad bipartisan assist. TikTok and ByteDance filed a authorized problem afterwards.
Earlier this month, a panel of three federal judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit unanimously upheld the statute, main TikTok to enchantment the case to the Supreme Court.
The transient from Trump stated he opposes banning TikTok at this junction and “seeks the power to resolve the problems at hand by way of political means as soon as he takes workplace.”
In their transient to the Supreme Court on Friday, attorneys for TikTok and its guardian firm ByteDance argued the federal appeals court docket erred in its ruling and primarily based its resolution on “alleged ‘dangers’ that China may train management” over TikTok’s U.S. platform by pressuring its overseas associates.
The Biden administration has argued in court docket that TikTok poses a nationwide safety danger because of its connections to China. Officials say Chinese authorities can compel ByteDance handy over info on TikTok’s U.S. patrons or use the platform to unfold or suppress info.
But the federal government “concedes that it has no proof China has ever tried to take action,” TikTok’s authorized submitting stated, including that the U.S. fears are predicated on future dangers.
In its submitting Friday, the Biden administration stated as a result of TikTok “is built-in with ByteDance and depends on its propriety engine developed and maintained in China,” its company construction carries with it danger.