THE POLITICS OF TIKTOK

How the Chinese platform's popularity, and self-interest, took Trump from ban to embrace

- ERIC CORTELLESSA

AS CONGRESS CONSIDERS LEGISLATION THAT could lead to a TikTok ban, the popular platform has found an unlikely ally: Donald Trump.

The former President has recently railed against a bill that would remove TikTok from U.S. app stores unless its Beijing-based parent company, ByteDance, sells its stake. To many, the move came out of left field. As President, Trump signed an Executive Order to ban TikTok unless an American company acquired it, alleging the Chinese government was using the video-sharing service to surveil millions of Americans. Challenged in federal court, the order never went into effect.

But now Trump sees some utility in helping to keep Tik Tok around, especially after President Joe Biden said he would sign the new congressional bill into law. "Frankly, there are a lot of people on TikTok that love it," Trump told CNBC. "There are a lot of young kids on TikTok who will go crazy without it."

Trump's flip-flop has sparked allegations that he's doing the bidding of a powerful donor with a stake in ByteDance. But part of his calculus, sources familiar with Trump's thinking tell TIME, is the opportunity to make gains with younger voters by protecting a platform they love.

"He realizes that a lot of people would be upset if it were banned," says a Trump operative working on the re-election effort. "Now Trump and Biden are on opposite sides of an issue where younger voters are clearly in favor of not banning TikTok."