President-elect Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court to delay the implementation of a law that would effectively ban TikTok if its Chinese parent company doesn’t sell the platform by Jan. 19, 2025. The request via an amicus brief comes just weeks before the ban’s deadline, which is set to take effect one day before Trump’s inauguration.
The court is scheduled to hear arguments on Jan. 10, 2025.
Trump’s intervention has shifted the odds slightly on prediction markets. On Polymarket, an unregulated prediction market that runs on blockchain technology, the odds of “Tiktok banned in the U.S. before May 2025?” dropped 4% on the day of Trump’s legal filing.
Trump looks to strike a deal
In his Supreme Court filing, Trump avoided taking sides on the fundamental dispute.
“President Trump takes no position on the underlying merits of this dispute,” the filing stated. Instead, he urged the Supreme Court to allow him to “pursue a political resolution” to this issue after his inauguration.
“President Trump alone possesses the consummate dealmaking expertise, the electoral mandate, and the political will to negotiate a resolution to save the platform while addressing the national security concerns expressed by the Government—concerns which President Trump himself has acknowledged,” the filing stated.
Following a December meeting with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, the president-elect told the press he had a “warm spot” for the app. “I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok because I won youth by 34 points, and there are those that say TikTok had something to do with that.
Trump's recent comments on TikTok Ban:
— Los Angeles Magazine (@LAmag) December 16, 2024
"I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok because I won youth by 34 points, and there are those that say TikTok had something to do with that." pic.twitter.com/dFwHxzjnnw
The Biden administration maintains that Chinese control of TikTok poses “grave national-security threats,” arguing that the platform collects sensitive data from millions of Americans and could manipulate content on the app.
TikTok continues to oppose the law, citing a ban on its app would violate First Amendment free speech rights.
The clock is ticking on an issue that could affect the 170 million U.S. users on the social media platform. Trump’s intervention adds another layer of complexity to an already nuanced case involving national security, free speech, and international relations.
Read more: TikTok Ban Betting Guide
