President-Elect Donald Trump has made a last minute plea to get the United States Supreme Court to halt implementation of a nationwide TikTok ban.

Congress passed a law earlier this year that would ban the popular video-sharing app if it is not sold by its Chinese parent company by January 19.

The executives of the platform made an emergency plea to the Supreme Court to block the law, and Trump’s legal team also filed a request to delay the implementation of the law.

“President Trump takes no position on the underlying merits of this dispute,” mentioned D. John Sauer, Trump’s lawyer, in the filing.

‘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 this case.’ 

‘President Trump alone possesses the consummate deal-making 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 continued.

‘In light of these interests – including most importantly, his overarching responsibility for the United States’ national security and foreign policy – President Trump opposes banning TikTok in the United States at this juncture and seeks the ability to resolve issues at hand through political means once he takes office.’ 

Trump has previously voiced his opposition to the Protecting Americans from Controlled Applications App, which President Joe Biden signed into law in April, and vowed on the campaign trail to ‘save TikTok.’

He even met with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew earlier this month to discuss the issue, after proclaiming, ‘I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok because I won youth by 34 points.’ 

President-elect Donald Trump has has made a last minute plea to get the United States Supreme Court to halt implementation of a nationwide TikTok ban

Congress passed a resolution earlier this year banning the popular video-sharing app as of January 19 if it is not sold by its Chinese parent company by then 

‘There are those who say TikTok had something to do with that.’ 

Friday’s filing even touted the future president as ‘one of the most powerful, prolific and influential users of social media in history.

‘Indeed, President Trump’s first term was highlighted by a series of policy triumphs achieved through historic deals, and he has a great prospect of success in this latest national security and foreign policy endeavor,’ it says. 

Executives at TikTok have also pointed at Trump’s sympathies in their own legal arguments, suggesting the trajectory may change when he takes office, The Hill reports.

But the Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments both from the government and the platform at an expedited schedule, starting on January 10.

It would then only have nine days after oral arguments for them to issue an opinion or indefinitely block the Protecting Americans from Controlled Applications App – despite Trump not taking office until January 20 – one day after the platform must be divested from its parent company, ByteDance, or be banned in the United States.

In the meantime, the company seeks to argue that such a law violates the First Amendment to the Constitution.

Yet the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit decided to uphold the law, concluding that the government’s national security justifications for banning the app – including concerns that the Chinese government could access data about American users and manipulate content – were legitimate.

The United States Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments both from the government and the platform at an expedited schedule, starting on January 10

Some wealthy Americans have since expressed an interest in buying TikTok’s US business, including ‘Shark Tank’ star Kevin O´Leary.

Big tech companies could also afford to buy the platform, but would likely face intense scrutiny from antitrust regulators in both the US and China. 

Activision CEO Bobby Kotick – who helped broker the $69 billion sale of his company to Microsoft last year – may have the resources to buy the Chinese app and the technological know how in order to create a new algorithm for it.

Kotick floated the idea of buying TikTok in March to numerous people at a dinner, the Wall Street Journal reported, with one of them being OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

Beyond Altman’s $2 billion net worth, he is an attractive partner in the bid to acquire TikTok because he could give the eventual US version of the app a head start in training its AI models.

Yet even if an American company does buy the platform, the China’s Commerce Ministry would have to approve ByteDance’s divestiture from TikTok – which the Chinese government has strongly opposed.