Less than a day after the popular social media platform TikTok went offline for users across the United States, President-elect Donald Trump says he will issue an executive order after he is inaugurated Monday to give TikTok's China-based parent company more time to find a U.S. buyer and avoid a permanent ban.
"I would like the United States to have a 50% ownership position in a joint venture," Trump said in a statement on his Truth Social platform. "By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands and allow it to say up. Without U.S. approval, there is no TikTok. With our approval, it is worth hundreds of billions of dollars — maybe trillions."
The announcement comes after TikTok users in the U.S. were greeted with a message on Saturday night saying the app was no longer available due to a law that went into effect Jan. 19.
The app was also removed from the Apple Store and Google Play.
TikTok warned that it would go dark in the U.S. unless it got assurances from the Biden administration that it would not enforce a law that was upheld by the Supreme Court on Friday. The Biden administration deferred any future action to the incoming Trump administration.
TikTok referenced Trump in its statement Saturday night.
"We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he would work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office," the statement says.
Congress passed the bipartisan bill into law in April of last year that banned TikTok from operating in the United States, citing national security concerns.
The legislation required TikTok to either divest from its China-based parent company ByteDance, sell the platform to a U.S.-owned company, or face a shutdown on Jan. 19.
