President-elect Donald Trump will meet with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew on Monday ahead of a possible U.S. ban on the video app, a source familiar with the plans told NBC News.
Trump indicated at a press conference earlier in the day that he had “a warm spot” for TikTok and said “we’ll take a look” at the app and a possible ban.
A federal law that President Joe Biden signed this year would ban TikTok in the U.S. effective Jan. 19 unless the Chinese-owned company agrees to divest its stake. TikTok asked the Supreme Court on Monday to block the law, which a federal appeals court upheld this month. Biden could also grant the app a one-time 90-day reprieve.
Trump is expected to be sworn in on January 20, the day after the law takes effect.
Trump and Chew were scheduled to meet at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, the source said.
TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the planned meeting.
At his news conference Monday, Trump made no mention of the meeting with Chew but said he believed his election victory was partly due to his use of TikTok. “I won the youth competition by 34 points. And there are people who say TikTok has something to do with that,” he said. According to a national exit poll, Trump lost voters between the ages of 18 and 29.
Trump tried to ban TikTok in 2020, during his first term in the White House, but was blocked by the courts. This year he changed his position, stunning some of his supporters but satisfying others, including Republican megadonor Jeff Yass, a major investor in TikTok.
Proponents of the ban include both Democrats and Republicans in Congress, and they argue that TikTok, due to TikTok’s Chinese ownership, poses a threat to user privacy and the information environment through the potential manipulation of content.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
