Trump calls on Supreme Court to delay TikTok ban

President-elect Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court on Friday to suspend the entry into force of the potential TikTok ban until his administration can pursue a “political solution” to the problem.

The request came as TikTok and the Biden administration filed opposing briefs with the court in which the company argued that the court should strike down a law that could ban the platform by January 19, while the administration emphasized its position that the law a national security risk is necessary for abolition.

“President Trump takes no position on the merits of this dispute. Instead, “he respectfully requests that the Court consider suspending the statute’s January 19, 2025 divestiture deadline while it considers the merits of this case,” said Trump’s amicus brief, which is not a party to the case Case supported and authored by D. John Sauer, Trump’s pick for attorney general.

The argument presented to the court is the latest example of Trump meddling in national issues before taking office. The Republican president-elect has already begun negotiating with other countries over his plans to impose tariffs, and earlier this month he intervened in a plan to fund the federal government, calling for the rejection of a bipartisan plan and sending Republicans back to the negotiating table.

Trump has also changed his stance on the popular app after trying to ban it on national security grounds during his first term. He joined the app during his 2024 presidential campaign and his team used it to engage with younger voters, particularly male voters, by distributing content that was often macho and aimed at going viral.

He said earlier this year that he still believes TikTok poses national security risks but that he opposes a ban. This month, Trump also met with TikTok CEO Shou Chew at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.

Friday’s filings come ahead of oral arguments scheduled for Jan. 10 on whether the law requiring TikTok to separate from its China-based parent company or face a ban unlawfully restricts speech and therefore violates the former Constitutional amendment violates. The law was signed by President Joe Biden in April after passing Congress with broad bipartisan support. TikTok and ByteDance then filed a lawsuit.

Earlier this month, a panel of three federal judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit unanimously upheld the law, prompting TikTok to appeal the case to the Supreme Court.

Trump’s brief said he opposes a ban on TikTok at this juncture and “seeks the opportunity to resolve the issues at hand through political means once he takes office.”

In their letter to the Supreme Court on Friday, lawyers for TikTok and its parent company ByteDance argued that the federal appeals court erred in its decision and based its decision on “alleged ‘risks’ of China pressuring the U.S. platform.” “TikTok could exercise control over TikTok’s US platform.” foreign subsidiaries.

The Biden administration has argued in court that TikTok poses a national security risk because of its ties to China. Officials say Chinese authorities could force ByteDance to release information about TikTok’s U.S. customers or use the platform to spread or suppress information.

But the government “acknowledges that it has no evidence that China has ever made such an attempt,” TikTok’s legal filings say, adding that the U.S. fears are based on future risks.

In its filing Friday, the Biden administration said TikTok’s corporate structure creates risks because TikTok is “integrated with ByteDance and relies on its proprietary engine developed and maintained in China.”