Trump urges Supreme Court to delay TikTok ban

US president-elect Donald Trump has urged the US Supreme Court to delay the TikTok ban in order to allow time for a negotiated solution, according to a legal document.

The document was filed on 27 December 2024, Friday, by John Sauer, whom Trump nominated to serve as solicitor general, a position typically responsible for representing the US government in appellate courts such as the Supreme Court. The document states that Trump opposes the immediate ban of TikTok in the United States and hopes to resolve the issue through political means after taking office.

Trump is skilled in negotiation and has the political will to reach a solution through talks, one that would address the government's national security concerns while saving the platform.

Trump has recently also suggested that he may allow TikTok to continue operations in the United States, the Xinhua news agency reported.

At an event hosted by the conservative organisation Turning Point USA in Phoenix, Arizona, on Sunday, 22 December 2024, Trump said that the popular video-sharing app may have helped reach some key voters in the presidential election and expressed the possibility of keeping TikTok around "for a little while".

In April, US president Joe Biden enacted the law that gives ByteDance only 270 days to sell TikTok, citing unfounded national security concerns. If the company fails to comply, the law will require app store operators such as Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their platforms.

In May, TikTok sued the US government to block the potential ban, which has drawn widespread criticism. In early December, the US Court of Appeals in Washington dismissed TikTok's claim that the ban was unconstitutional.

On 16 December, TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, asked the Supreme Court to pause the law temporarily. TikTok argued that the potential ban would shutter one of America's most popular speech platforms the day before a presidential inauguration and "silence the speech of Applicants and the many Americans who use the platform to communicate about politics, commerce, arts, and other matters of public concern".

On 18 December, the Supreme Court agreed to review a request from TikTok and ByteDance to block the law.