Trump's TikTok flip-flop: The U.S. president-elect's social media evolution
Trump bashed TikTok as recently as 2023 and Facebook in 2024. Both companies' CEOs may attend his inauguration
TikTok, barring Supreme Court intervention, is facing a federal ban of the popular platform in the U.S. on Sunday, just one day before Donald Trump is inaugurated to serve another term as president.
Trump's nominee for national security adviser said in an interview late Wednesday that the president-elect was exploring options to "preserve" TikTok, which has an estimated 170 million American users.
Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports suggested TikTok CEO Chew Shou Zi could be attending Trump's inauguration.
Trump acting as a TikTok saviour and Chew attending the inauguration are both scenarios that appeared unthinkable not long ago, as explained in this timeline:
July 2020
After Secretary of State Mike Pompeo publicly floats the idea of banning the TikTok app in the U.S., Trump soon confirms it's a possibility.
The Pompeo and Trump comments come as the COVID-19 coronavirus spreads rapidly, shutting down business activity throughout much of the world. Weeks earlier, India announced its ban of TikTok and 58 other Chinese apps, though that move was related to India's sometimes violent territorial disputes with its Asian rival.
In the first six months of 2020, Trump repeatedly praised Chinese leader Xi Jinping's ability to contain the virus, but by July, he now says: "It's a big business. Look, what happened with China with this virus, what they've done to this country and to the entire world is disgraceful."
August 2020
Trump signs executive orders that amount to a ban, effective Sept. 20, on U.S. transactions with China's ByteDance, owner of TikTok, and Tencent, operator of messenger app WeChat.
The order cites the potential for the Chinese Communist Party to access "Americans' personal and proprietary information," including U.S. government employees. U.S. officials also warn the company's proprietary algorithm is vulnerable to manipulation by Chinese authorities, who can use it to shape content for propaganda purposes.
Trump also gives Microsoft Corp. 45 days to complete the purchase of TikTok's U.S. operations.
One year later, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella characterizes that unsuccessful effort as "the strangest thing I've ever sort of worked on."
September 2020
It is announced that Microsoft rival Oracle will host American user data on TikTok, a process that begins taking place in 2022.
As well, court rulings grant an injunction to TikTok, preventing its disappearance from U.S. app stores. A Trump-appointed district court judge, while noting China's national security threat, said the Trump executive order likely exceeded the bounds of existing federal law.
2021-2023
Comments from several Republican politicians after Jan. 6, 2021, suggest that the party will break from Trump, who receives suspensions from Facebook and Twitter for violations amid the Capitol Hill uprising.
Trump formulates plans for his own platform, debuting Truth Social in February 2022.
While slamming the controversial appointment of a disinformation czar, ultimately scrapped by U.S. President Joe Biden's administration, Trump in 2022 continues to vent about TikTok, among other social media apps.
"Just revealed that the Biden administration, on top of all of the other horrible things happening to our Country, will be putting a longtime political operative in charge of censoring Free Speech," he says on Truth Social. "They don't go after Facebook, Instagram, China's TikTok, or any of the others that are so unhinged, corrupt, or Radical Left.
There are moves afoot to tackle the TikTok conundrum through an act of Congress, where Chew would be slammed at a March 2023 committee hearing.
Trump, who announced another presidential bid over four months earlier, takes credit for the mood on Capitol Hill.
"Has anybody noticed that everyone wants to go after, and destroy, TIKTOK due to China influence and National Security," he says on Truth Social. "When I wanted to disable TIKTOK 3 years ago, I was met with opposition from RINOS [Republicans In Name Only] to Democrats to everyone else. They actually went to court in an effort to stop me. Now they realize I was right, and have changed their tune."
Spring 2024: a change
Trump, in social media posts, appears to be less concerned about TikTok, while nursing grudges against Facebook.
"If you get rid of TikTok, Facebook and Zuckerschmuck will double their business. I don't want Facebook … doing better. They are a true Enemy of the People!," he posts, in reference to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
A week later, he suggests in all caps that TikTok "is less of a danger to the USA than Meta."
TIKTOK IS LESS OF A DANGER TO THE USA THAN META (FACEBOOK!), WHICH IS A TRUE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE. THEY SPENT $500,000,000 AGAINST ME AND OUR GREAT REPUBLICAN PARTY, “LOCKBOXES” AND ALL, AND SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN ALLOWED TO DO THAT. TIKTOK DIDN’T. LIKE CROOKED JOE BIDEN, FACEBOOK…
—@TrumpDailyPostsMultiple U.S. media outlets chase the possible underlying reasons for Trump's changing tone on TikTok.
It is revealed that Trump had recently spoke to a group led by Jeff Yass, founder of the Susquehanna International Group hedge fund. The Republican megadonor is one of the world's 100 richest men according to Forbes magazine, and a TikTok investor who has previously referred to the platform as "the epitome of libertarian and free market ideals," in comments to the Wall Street Journal.
Even Steve Bannon, a former Trump adviser, offers a cynical explanation for Trump's about-face while posting on social media: "Simple: Yass Coin."
Despite helping set the political temperature in Washington concerning TikTok, Trump posts: "Crooked Joe Biden is responsible for banning TikTok."
That post comes after Biden's administration has signed legislation that sets a Jan. 19, 2025, deadline for TikTok to sell to an American company in order to continue operating in the U.S. Some reports suggest that Steve Mnuchin, former Trump treasury secretary, is assembling a group of investors to look into a TikTok acquisition.
In June, Trump joins TikTok.
December 2024
Lawyers for Trump, who completed a stunning political comeback weeks earlier in the presidential election, file an amicus brief on his behalf to the Supreme Court. The top court hears a challenge to the U.S. government's proposed TikTok ban on Jan. 10, 2025.
Any action on TikTok should wait for Trump to take office, they argue, while pointing out that Trump now has amassed 14.7 million followers on the platform in six months.
"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," they argue.
Reports suggest TikTok's Chew is among the corporate leaders to visit Trump at his Florida estate.
January 2025
Trump boasts about his TikTok stats in a Jan. 3 post that simply states, "Why would I want to ban TikTok?"
The Supreme Court hears arguments on the ban but doesn't reveal if it will act before Jan. 19.
Mike Waltz, Trump national security adviser nominee, said the issue is foremost on Trump's mind.
"If the Supreme Court comes out with a ruling in favour of the law, President Trump has been very clear: Number one, TikTok is a great platform that many Americans use and has been great for his campaign and getting his message out. But number two, he's going to protect their data," said Waltz, who voted in favour of the ban while in Congress in 2024.
Zuckerberg, meanwhile, appears to have undergone his own evolution. He slams Biden administration efforts to combat misinformation on Facebook in an appearance on Joe Rogan's podcast, and he announces a retreat from robust fact checking on Meta's platforms.
Zuckerberg is set to host a black-tie event after Trump's inauguration, to which he has reportedly donated $1 million US.
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With files from the Associated Press