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President-elect Donald Trump has proposed that the United States should get a 50 percent ownership of TikTok.
Trump made the proposal just less than 24 hours to his inauguration as the 47th President of the US.
The suggestion is coming just hours after the ban on TikTok came into effect in the country.
Read Also: TikTok Ban On Hold As Trump Pushes For US Co-Ownership
The Eastern Updates reported that the Supreme Court in the US had ruled that a controversial ban on TikTok may take effect on Sunday.
The apex court rejected an appeal from the popular app’s owners that claimed the ban violated the First Amendment.
However, Trump took to his Truth Social on Sunday to announce that he will issue an executive order on Monday to extend the period of time before the law’s prohibitions take effect.
According to him, this is to allow the parties to make a deal to protect US national security.
He said: “I would like the United States to have a 50% ownership position in a joint venture. By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands and allow it to stay up. Without U.S. approval, there is no Tik Tok. With our approval, it is worth hundreds of billions of dollars – maybe trillions.
“Therefore, my initial thought is a joint venture between the current owners and/or new owners whereby the U.S. gets a 50% ownership in a joint venture set up between the U.S. and whichever purchase we so choose.”
First, the legal ramifications of the U.S. government owning a stake in a private entity are uncharted territory. Critics are likely to question whether such an arrangement complies with existing antitrust laws and whether it would set a precedent for government intervention in the private sector. This direction could further explore the broader implications for global trade relationships, particularly between the U.S. and China, where tensions over technology and intellectual property have been longstanding.
Second, the timeline for implementing such a proposal raises questions about practicality. Delaying the ban provides breathing room for negotiation, but it also gives TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, leverage to push back against the terms. Would other countries view this as a fair compromise, or could it inspire similar demands from U.S. allies?
