TikTok occupies a 'warm spot' in Trump's heart but can Scotus defuse ban bomb

US President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to save TikTok from a ban in the United States.

This is a remarkable turnaround for a man who had once issued an executive order regarding the app and said it allowed the Communist Party of China (CPC) to spy on Americans and spread Chinese propaganda.

Trump has a history of having a fawning relationship with US adversaries like Vladmir Putin and Xi Jinping. He has long trusted these adversaries —whether China or Russia— over US intelligence agencies. These adversaries have long fooled Trump. For example, China convinced Trump into signing a trade deal in 2020 that spectacularly failed. Thera are signs that China may have won over Trump again regarding TikTok.

Trump looking at a quid pro quo

Trump appears to be prepared for an exercise of quid pro quo.

As TikTok helped Trump win the 2024 US presidential election, he now appears set to return the favour.

Trump appears to be returning the favour either with the use of his executive power or hold over the Republican Party. He is supporting TikTok despite the bipartisan consensus in the US polity that the app is a tool of the Chinese regime to advance its information warfare and espionage goals.

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Trump on Tuesday met TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and told the media after the meeting that he would “take a look at TikTok” after assuming office in January.

Trump further said, “I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok.”

Trump said that he “won youth by 34 points, and there are those that say that TikTok had something to do with it”.

This is a sharp turnaround from Trump’s stand as the president. In August 2020, Trump in an executive order said that TikTok’s “data collection threatens to allow the Chinese Communist Party access to Americans’ personal and proprietary information — potentially allowing China to track the locations of Federal employees and contractors, build dossiers of personal information for blackmail, and conduct corporate espionage”.

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Trump further said, “TikTok also reportedly censors content that the Chinese Communist Party deems politically sensitive, such as content concerning protests in Hong Kong and China’s treatment of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities. This mobile application may also be used for disinformation campaigns that benefit the Chinese Communist Party, such as when TikTok videos spread debunked conspiracy theories about the origins of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus.”

US Supreme Court & Congress expected to do Trump’s bidding

Trump may not even need to get his hands dirty as he may have his appointees in the Supreme Court do his bidding.

In a remarkable decision, the Supreme Court on Wednesday accepted TikTok’s appeal against a lower court’s decision to uphold a federal law banning the app on January 19 if TikTok’s parent company failed to sell the app to a non-Chinese entity by then.

The Supreme Court would hear the case on January 10 and is expected to pass a judgement by January 19.

As the Supreme Court has a 6-3 conservative majority and three of these six conservative judges were appointed by Trump himself and belong to the hard-right brand of Trump’s politics, the Supreme Court is expected to do Trump’s bidding.

In recent years, the Supreme Court has delivered Trump and his far-right base several victories, such as overturning the Roe v Wade judgement, the judgement on affirmative action, and the judgement on transgender healthcare.

Even if the Supreme Court somehow does not rule in TikTok’s favour, then Trump can command the Republican Party to overturn the TikTok law. Even though the Republican Party overwhelmingly favours banning TikTok, it is also completely at the service of Trump and is unlikely to disobey his commands.

In January, Trump is set to have a trifecta where Republicans control all three elected centres of power in Washington DC: White House, House of Representatives, Senate. While the Congress is a separate, independent branch of government, the Republican-controlled Congress is set to be a rubber-stamp body as Trump’s hold over the party is absolute. Moreover, Trump also has the Supreme Court in his pocket, which means that he all means available to return the favour to TikTok.