Trump gives TikTok 75-day reprieve after ban goes into effect

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday delaying the Department of Justice (DOJ) from enforcing the long-awaited TikTok ban. While the social media platform’s fate is still up in the air, Trump signaled his support for it being sold, with the U.S. as a “partner.”

“[TikTok] is worthless if it doesn’t get a permit. … With a permit, it’s worth like a trillion dollars. Buy it and give half to the United States of America, half, and we’ll give you a permit,” Trump said in press conference Tuesday, making his pitch for someone like Tesla CEO Elon Musk or Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison to be the buyer. “… They’ll have the ultimate partner, and the U.S. will make it very worthwhile for them.”

On Friday, the Supreme Court upheld a law ordering TikTok be sold or cease conducting business in the U.S. The court noted in its decision that 170 million Americans used the social media platform as “a distinctive and expansive outlet for expression, means of engagement, and source of community,” but it did not find a reason to overturn the ban.