TikTok's chief executive is scheduled to attend President-elect Donald J. Trump's inauguration and is invited to sit in a position of honor on the dais, where former presidents, family members and other important guests traditionally sit. Two people familiar with the matter said. The plan was revealed on Wednesday.
An invitation was issued by the Trump Vance Inaugural Committee to senior executive Shou Chu, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss Monday's inauguration. Chu will be joining tech giants like Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk at the event. Jeff Bezos has also been invited.
TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, declined to comment.
Trump's support for TikTok marks a stunning reversal from 2020, when he tried to block the app in the United States during his first term and force it to be sold to American companies. He deepened his association with the company last year, especially after he and his campaign's popularity soared on TikTok during last year's election.
The Trump administration's embrace of Chu is significant as the app is on the brink of death in the United States. Congress passed a law last year that requires ByteDance to sell TikTok to a non-Chinese company or face a U.S. sales ban effective January 19, citing national security concerns. did. TikTok has spent much of the year betting on whether it can defeat the law in court. More recently, it has set its sights on trying to reach an alternative solution with the Trump administration to avoid a complete sale. The Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling on the law within the next few days.
Trump has vowed to keep the app in the United States after he takes office on January 20, but his options for doing so are limited. Legal experts say the area where Mr. Trump is most likely to intervene is under the law that gives the president the power to determine whether ByteDance has taken sufficient steps to remove TikTok from Chinese control. He said he would be involved in some areas.
Trump publicly changed his stance on TikTok last year shortly after meeting with Republican megadonor Jeff Yass, who owns a significant stake in ByteDance. Trump has said he did not discuss the company. But Mr. Yass helped found the trading company Susquehanna International Group and is one of the biggest supporters of the anti-tax lobbying group Club for Growth. The president-elect's former top adviser and Republican adviser David Urban lobbied for TikTok in Washington.
Trump has also repeatedly talked about how content about him and his campaign is doing well on TikTok. His advisors saw value in getting involved with the site.
Trump met with TikTok executives on Dec. 16 at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, according to a person familiar with the matter. Around the time of the meeting, TikTok officials told those around Trump, and perhaps the president-elect himself, that Trump should be the one deciding TikTok's fate, according to two people familiar with the talks. He is said to have said. The person spoke on condition of anonymity. Shortly afterward, Trump told reporters that he had a “warm eye” on TikTok and would look into the issue.
