Trump's support for TikTok is a significant turnaround.
According to The New York Times, with just over two months left, TikTok could soon be banned in the U.S. Since President-elect Trump expressed opposition to banning TikTok during his campaign this year, TikTok is now hoping he can find a way to save it. When asked if Trump would prevent TikTok from being banned in the U.S., a spokesperson for Trump's team stated he would 'deliver' on those promises, but did not provide specific details. 'The American people overwhelmingly voted to re-elect Trump as president, empowering him to fulfill his campaign promises,' said Karoline Leavitt, spokesperson for Trump and vice president-elect Vance's transition team, in a statement, 'He will fulfill his promises.'
The New York Times reported that before Trump's team made the above statements, TikTok made significant efforts this year to build a relationship with Trump's campaign team. Trump's support for TikTok is a significant turnaround. In 2020, Trump attempted to ban TikTok in the U.S. during his first term, forcing it to be sold to an American company. In March this year, Trump publicly changed his stance on TikTok. It was at that time he met billionaire investor Jeff Yass. Yass is a major Republican donor, and his firm, PDC Capital Group, holds a significant stake in ByteDance (approximately 15%).
However, Trump stated they did not discuss TikTok. Yass is also one of the biggest supporters of the anti-tax lobbying group, Club for Growth, which hired Trump's former senior advisor Kellyanne Conway to lobby for TikTok in Washington. TikTok also attempted to connect with the Republican Party and Trump's campaign team through former Treasury Department official Tony Sayegh during the Trump administration. Sayegh is responsible for public affairs at PDC Capital Group and is considered to have a friendly relationship with the Trump family, playing a key role in encouraging Trump's campaign team to have Trump join TikTok this summer. Trump immediately generated a lot of attention on TikTok, currently having 14.4 million followers. Several of Trump's family members have also joined TikTok, including his daughter Ivanka and son Donald Trump Jr.and his granddaughter Kai.#BabyMarvinf9c7牛市新星⭐ 
Zhou Shouzi will regularly participate in the strategic conference calls held weekly by TikTok this year, providing advice to TikTok CEO Zhou Shouzi, Public Relations Chief Zenia Mucha, and Americas Public Policy Chief Michael Beckerman. He also participated in a meeting in New York in April this year, attended by the aforementioned TikTok executives, to discuss the future of TikTok. At that time, President Biden signed a law mandating the sale of TikTok's U.S. operations. Within TikTok, executives believe that Sayegh's advice is crucial for the company's relationship with Trump, and TikTok is also seeking support from Democrats. Sources say that former Democratic strategist David Plouffe, among others, has worked for the company. Plouffe later left to join Vice President Harris's presidential campaign team. The Harris campaign performed exceptionally well on TikTok, accumulating over 9 million followers and receiving widespread praise. Four former TikTok employees, who wished to remain anonymous, stated that although TikTok has thousands of employees in the U.S., almost no one within TikTok believes the company could be banned in the U.S. anytime soon. Three employees indicated that executives sometimes dismissed the potential ban, even mentioning in a general meeting that such a ban could one day become the subject of a Hollywood movie. Nevertheless, many experts and former employees remain uncertain about how the Trump administration could alter TikTok's trajectory in the U.S. based on the divestiture law, especially as the deadline for that law approaches. They stated that repealing that law would require action from Congress.
