Future of app used by about 150 million Americans hangs in balance but if House passes bill, it is unclear how it will progress in the Senate
Donald Trump’s newfound support of TikTok, and by extension its Chinese owner ByteDance ByteDance, came soon after Joe Biden said he’d sign legislation making its way through Congress that could ban the app.
It also came after the former president met with the Republican mega-donor, Jeff Yass, who reportedly has a major financial stake in the popular social media platform.
Yass’s hedge fund, Susquehanna International Group, took a stake in ByteDance in 2012 estimated by the Wall Street Journal last year at about 15%, with Yass personally owning 7%, valued at $21bn.
Soon after the meeting at a Club for Growth donor retreat in Palm Beach, Florida, earlier this month, Trump wrote on Truth Social:
If you get rid of TikTok, Facebook and Zuckerschmuck will double their business. I don’t want Facebook, who cheated in the last Election, doing better.Trump flip flopped on TikTok ban
Donald Trump, who as president supported calls to ban TikTok, came out earlier this week in favor of the app.
“There are a lot of people on TikTok that love it. There are a lot of young kids on TikTok who will go crazy without it,” Trump told CNBC on Monday, adding:
There’s a lot of good and there’s a lot of bad with TikTok.
