- TikTok resumes operations in the U.S. after President-elect Trump promises a 90-day extension to the divest-or-sell law, marking a significant shift in the platform's fortunes and potentially impacting U.S.-China relations.
TikTok is back up and running in the U.S. after President-elect Donald Trump promised to issue an executive order on Monday.
The app briefly went dark for around 170 million U.S. users over the weekend before Trump confirmed he would sign an executive order allowing a 90-day extension to the divest-or-sell law.
It's a win for TikTok, which had previously been petitioning the Supreme Court to overturn the law.
Dan Ives, managing director at Wedbush Securities, said the social media platform has gone from having its "back against the wall to a massive position of strength" over the weekend.
In a Sunday note, Ives said the ban "backfired in dramatic fashion" when Trump threw his weight behind the platform and showed he was "heavily against the ban."
The app is once again available for U.S. users who have it installed, however, major app stores still aren’t offering it for downloads or updates.
TikTok has publicly thanked Trump for the extension, calling it a "strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship" and said it plans to work with the President-elect to find a "long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States."
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is also expected to attend Trump's inauguration on Monday alongside fellow tech titans Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos.
TikTok a 'chip on the poker table' between the U.S. and Beijing
A decision on TikTok could have an impact on the broader relations between China and the incoming Trump administration.
Ives called the platform a "chip on the poker table" in much larger negotiations around tariffs set to happen over the coming months between DC and Beijing.
Trump has said he plans to impose harsher tariffs on Chinese goods, proposing a 60% tariff on imports from the country during his 2024 campaign.
TikTok disappearing from the U.S. market could have a ripple impact in Beijing, starting the tariff negotiations on the wrong foot, Ives said.
The video-sharing platform will still need to find a buyer or partner in the U.S. and several billionaires, including DOGE co-chair Musk and former CEO of McCourt Global Frank McCourt, have already been linked to the deal. (TikTok has previously called the reports that Beijing is considering selling to Musk "pure fiction.”)
Trump has been arguing in favor of a joint venture with 50% U.S. ownership of TikTok.
Martin SFP Bryant, co-founder of tech consultancy Big Revolution, told Fortune that while the platform was stronger after proving it had Trump's support, his proposed solution "appears to be some kind of partial state-ownership which would be very difficult to carry out, particularly in a way that complies with the TikTok ban law as it stands."
Ives said he was expecting a slew of TikTok's bids to be submitted in the coming weeks, with ByteDance still considering the possibility that Musk could buy the platform's U.S. operations.
He also name-checked Oracle as potentially playing a key role in any deal, citing the company's prior partnership with the platform.
However, whether ByteDance will want to give up ownership of TikTok US, even when backed into such a tight corner, remains to be seen, Bryan said.
He said the platform "appears to want to keep pushing for some sort of (currently illegal) option where it retains its current ownership stake."
