Donald Trump has waded into the debate over congress attempting to ban TikTok, reversing his previous position and leaving GOP congress critters wanting his favor scrambling.
On Monday, asked about suspicions that he had been “paid off” to change his view on TikTok after a meeting with a major TikTok investor, the billionaire Jeff Yass, Mr. Trump denied it. Mr. Trump reportedly praised Mr. Yass, a large donor to the Club for Growth, as “fantastic,” and the group recently had a rapprochement with him after a yearslong freeze.
Through the Club for Growth, Mr. Yass has funded a major advocacy drive in Washington to stop the banning of TikTok. He and his allies have recruited several former Trump administration officials to help with the effort — including Tony Sayegh, who was a Treasury official, and Kellyanne Conway, who was a senior counselor to the president.
In the CNBC interview, Mr. Trump said he had not discussed TikTok with Mr. Yass at their meeting.
“No, I didn’t,” Mr. Trump said, saying it had been a brief meeting with Mr. Yass and his wife. “He never mentioned TikTok.”
Mr. Trump’s criticism of the new legislation is striking because of his move to restrict the company while in office. An executive order he signed in August 2020 said that TikTok’s data collection from its users “threatens to allow the Chinese Communist Party access to Americans’ personal and proprietary information.” It added that TikTok could be used to spread disinformation that benefited Beijing.
“These risks are real,” the executive order said.
Mr. Trump’s administration moved to block Apple’s and Google’s app stores from carrying TikTok over concerns about the app’s Chinese ownership. But federal courts ruled repeatedly to block Mr. Trump’s TikTok ban from taking effect.
The man flip flops like an oxygen deprived fish. This should not surprise anyone.Report
Imagine being a citizen of Taiwan, or America and knowing that there is a 50-50 chance that a year from now this man will hold your life in his sweaty little fingers.Report
Aided and abetted by a House of Representatives whose members don’t know that Singapore is an independent nation.Report
I have no idea what to think about TikTok. I was hoping to rely on the notion that whatever position Trump took was wrong. But now what do I do?Report