President-elect Donald Trump on Friday asked the Supreme Court to delay a potential ban on the social media platform TikTok until after his inauguration on Jan. 20.
President Joe Biden signed a law in April that to ban platform from app stores in the United States starting January 19, unless its China-connected parent company ByteDance divests its shares of the app.
The Supreme Court is set is begin hearing oral arguments on Jan. 10, nine days before the deadline.
Trump has suggested that he could keep the social media app around after he takes office, even under its current ownership by a Chinese company.
He appears to have taken a heightened interest in keeping the short-form video app available in the U.S. upon learning his popularity among younger voters on it.
The ban stems from concerns that the app could operate as an extension of the Chinese government. But the company has strongly denied being “owned or controlled by any government or state-controlled entity.”
Trump attorney D. John Sauer on Friday said the incoming president holds the “electoral mandate, and the political will to negotiate a resolution to save the platform while addressing the national security concerns,” according to The Hill.
“In light of these interests – including, most importantly, his overarching responsibility for the United States’ national security and foreign policy – President Trump opposes banning TikTok in the United States at this juncture, and seeks the ability to resolve the issues at hand through political means once he takes office,” Sauer wrote in a brief.
The Supreme Court is expected to begin hearing oral arguments on Jan. 10, nine days before the deadline.
