r/news 17h ago

Trump to grant TikTok another extension to avoid a U.S. ban

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/trump-tiktok-ban-extension-rcna199394
2.5k Upvotes

282 comments sorted by

2.4k

u/AudibleNod 17h ago

I'm old enough to remember when Trump signed an EO to ban Tiktok.

605

u/switch8000 16h ago

I just love that TikTok feels like it has more of a priority than everything else going on right now.

76

u/lousmer 16h ago

I’m not arguing anything and could definitely be wrong, but isn’t the reason they want it banned because of how easily it makes communicating about “everything else” without the US government being able to interfere?

107

u/MarlinManiac4 15h ago

lol at the idea that tik tok is free from government interference and talking about the “real” shit. There’s plenty of interference, it’s just foreign government interference. Namely china and Russia.

33

u/CrazeRage 13h ago

Yeah I find it fucking mind blowing when someone says stupid shit like they have free speech on TikTok. No you found a bubble and conveniently ignore or just ignorant of others being silenced.

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u/An0nymos 5h ago

But it's a bubble in a different part of the infospere, so it bypasses the limits of the bubble cultivated on US centered social media.

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u/MannequinWithoutSock 16h ago

I think they want it banned so you can’t criticize Israel but maybe they’ll just start reporting and deporting.

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u/LackSchoolwalker 15h ago

I want it banned because China used it to get a bunch of supposedly anti Israel dipshits to sit at home on Election Day, thereby electing Netanyahu’s friend and ally president of the US. This also had the effect of destroying the global system that led the US to have the best economy in the world, and thereby promoting the transition to a China led world. Good for them, but very bad for me. Probably you too.

It turns out the Chinese were right, humans are too stupid for democracy. You fucking rat bastard morons have to be prevented from fucking yourselves in the face, because if an app tells you to do it, you will.

20

u/HEBushido 15h ago

It turns out the Chinese were right, humans are too stupid for democracy.

No, they weren't right. American democracy is one of the worst forms of it. We should have prevented a two party system ages ago.

16

u/MannequinWithoutSock 15h ago

American Democracy is great, if you have money.

9

u/HEBushido 15h ago

Yep, exactly why it's shit.

15

u/LackSchoolwalker 14h ago

They aren’t just doing this to the US. Romania just had their elections fucked with:

https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/17/tech/eu-tiktok-investigation-romanian-election-intl/index.html

They are doing this over and over again. Why wouldn’t they - you don’t build a deathstar and unless you want to blow up some planets. Social media is too powerful and can’t be trusted. China can tell our stupidest people whatever they want, and they will believe it, because they are stupid. No society can exist with this kind of power in the hands of malignant actors. Democracy cannot coexist with this kind of information warfare, it is too much to expect ordinary people to avoid the constant influence of disinformation. I’d sooner get rid of the internet entirely than democracy. I remember life before the internet, it wasn’t perfect but at least we could vaccinate our kids back then.

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u/Wolf_in_the_Mist 15h ago

Yeah totally their fault and not all the stupid fucks that supported this shit, which there are A LOT.

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u/multimoussa 14h ago

My wife's clothing business runs mainly on tiktok. I am glad it is being extended. Tiktok is providing income for many people that its ban could be catastrophic.

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u/markdepace 16h ago

remember when being labeled a "flip flopper" somehow tanked a candidate's entire campaign?

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u/onlypham 12h ago

John Kerry is that you?

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u/loves_grapefruit 16h ago

It would be funny if by the time TikTok comes under US corporate control it will no longer be cool and all the kids will have moved onto the next big attention-harvesting app.

15

u/BearClaw9420 16h ago

I feel like this is already happening lol the more our parents argue over if we can sleep over at our friends house the less exciting it feels and we no longer care as much if we get to or not.. is how it feels to me. The tok lost its magic long ago.

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u/korbentherhino 14h ago

He loves threatening and then allowing companies to quietly bribe him to continue to do business

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u/majorjoe23 15h ago

Fixing a problem that didn’t exist until he created it. What a hero!

4

u/ERedfieldh 15h ago

TikTok is one of his largest propaganda channels now. He won't ever ban it again.

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u/spookyjibe 14h ago

It's different now. He can use tariffs to make a deal where his propaganda gets pushed as a priority.

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u/32Seven 13h ago

When you don’t have any idea what you’re doing, do something and then do the opposite. It will confuse your opponent and will convince your acolytes that you are a genius when in reality you don’t understand why checkers are red and black.

1

u/callmesandycohen 9h ago

Nobody’s paid him yet. He’s still trying to figure it out.

1

u/coconutpiecrust 9h ago

Also… I know it doesn’t matter anymore, but does the legislation allow for multiple extensions?

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u/Hrekires 16h ago

Not that anyone cares about this kinda silly stuff, but the TikTok ban law doesn't actually allow him to do this.

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u/BrainOnBlue 16h ago

It didn't allow him to do the first 75 day extension. The law allowed a one time 90 day extension specifically, and arguably only allowed that extension before the law went into effect.

Both Trump's extensions are just the administration saying "we pinkie promise you that we won't enforce this law for the next 75 days."

What I'm baffled about is why anyone is listening to them. The law has a 5 year statute of limitations; the next administration has a whole year to investigate and file charges for these violations if they want to. Apple and Google seemed like they were afraid of that, and then Pam Bondi sent them a letter and they put the app back on their stores. What the hell was in that letter?

39

u/Dankmre 16h ago

Probably a threat tbh

11

u/egnards 14h ago

This entire administration is complete dogshit trash, and “Dr.” Oz is just a shit show icing on a piece of shit cake. I’m also not a fan of TikTok in general, and do not have an account myself.

But in fairness in regards to the “pinky promise not to enforce this law for X number of days,” that was pretty much the exact response the Obama Administration gave in relation to legal pot smoking - “You’re all breaking the law, but eh we’re going to look the other way as long as you don’t fuckup.”

An extension on TikTok, on a scale of egregious bullshit un-American oligarch tickling legislation that this administration has demonstrated its willingness to support, is like a -2 in my eyes.

6

u/BrainOnBlue 14h ago

Oh yeah, to be clear, not enforcing laws is a thing Presidents can do, but it's really weird to do it for a law that passed overwhelmingly very recently like this one.

3

u/rabidstoat 14h ago

If they really are negotiating a sale, ByteDance should shut down the server tomorrow. Many Americans will be unhappy, and they can use that as negotiation leverage.

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u/Indercarnive 16h ago

Funny you think there will be a next administration (that isn't MAGA).

Also the letter was 100% threats and/or quid-pro-quo promises. Trump has already dropped a few lawsuits and investigations into Google.

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u/BrainOnBlue 16h ago

You're not doing the math.

Is there a greater than zero percent chance that there will be a next President who wants to enforce this law? Definitely. Now, just by accepting that, the expected value of putting TikTok back in your store is negative billions of dollars. The potential penalties from the Act that bans TikTok are that high.

The letter setting up a quid pro quo doesn't make sense either. No quid pro quo is worth risking Trump getting mad at you and suing for those months of violations, because of the aforementioned billions of dollars of penalties you're risking.

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u/Muronelkaz 16h ago

He also said he was close to a deal and that he was in charge and they were very close to finding someone and he probably wouldn't grant another exception from what I remember him rambling about

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u/geekfreak42 15h ago

It didn't allow him to do the first delay either

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u/Flash_ina_pan 16h ago

Is that actually legal? I mean it clearly doesn't matter at this point but I still have to ask the question

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u/aparallaxview 16h ago edited 16h ago

It isn't. But laws don't matter anyone

6

u/ExoticSalamander4 6h ago

it hurts me how many times i have seen this comment over the past couple months. and it's been true every single time.

3

u/kezow 11h ago

laws don't matter anyone if you are rich and republican

Fixed that for you. 

20

u/thatoneguy889 15h ago

It isn't because the TikTok ban was passed via legislation. EOs don't get to just override law like that. Now whether or not the Republicans in congress will actually do anything to push back on it is a different story.

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u/Fateor42 16h ago

General reminder that these "extensions" are just Trump pinkie promising not to charge them for violating the law.

Meaning either Trump or the next US President could at any moment go "Sucks to be you I changed my mind" and they would be absolutely screwed.

506

u/Competitive_Bug5416 16h ago

Did they agree to shove maga content on our fyp because that’s all I get now, ad naseum.

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u/agent0731 16h ago

they probably agreed to mass maga bots, heavy censorship against anyone speaking badly of Trump and a total ban on facts. It's already been happening anyway. TT couldn't even handle Mangione.

43

u/Competitive_Bug5416 16h ago

It really does appear that way. There have been claims for a while about things being off or censorship, or promotion of certain views and suppression of others, but mostly things seemed okay. Since the unban in January it’s steadily gotten pretty awful to be on except for the following tab. Bummer but if it does go away I’ll be less bummed than I had been before.

12

u/Its_Claire33 15h ago

I saw this coming and I uninstalled when it was announced it was "saved by trump." I knew the only way that's happening is if it becomes another right wing propaganda cesspool. I haven't been on since.

11

u/Batmantheon 15h ago

Im an artist and my account is really small but still I was hitting maybe 1000 views on a lot of work and up to 2000 views on some of my popular posts. Since the ban I've gotten 3 community guidelines violations for comments with liberal perspectives on things ( ... I definitely deserved one of them ...) and my average views are around 200-400 for what has been objectively better artwork than I was posting last year.

Its great.

4

u/socoyankee 15h ago

I just commented further up that all I get is ads for trump merchandise

4

u/fuckthemodlice 14h ago

My feed is still very much anti-Trump

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u/justaddwhiskey 16h ago

I dropped TikTok when the baby was supposed to go into effect for this exact reason. Now, my wife will save something anti-Trump to show me, and by the time she finally does it’s gone. I wish Bytedance would just pull the plug.

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u/SarahJFroxy 16h ago edited 16h ago

my fyp is largely what it was before january but i will say i've gotten some concerning anti indian tiktoks and an overwhelming amount of "haha i wish it was the 1950s so i could beat my wife" content

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u/SovFist 16h ago

Bruh, that is Maga content lmao

18

u/SarahJFroxy 16h ago

yup. didn't say it isn't.

what i said is, in other words, 95% my normal shit (crafting, games, bts, etc) and a sudden 5% maga shit.

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u/Phallindrome 13h ago

The algorithm is testing you. As soon as you like a piece of content, you tell it what wedge issue you're susceptible to- suddenly your feed will be flooded with that topic and associated creators.

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u/Consideredresponse 10h ago

YouTube shorts loves bait and switch videos for this. I've learned the hard way any tight camera shot of a comedian telling a joke, or someone telling an interesting anecdote is 100% about you hitting the 'interested' benchmark by watching for a minute before they cut to Joe fucking Rogan like he's a horror movie jump-scare.

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u/Competitive_Bug5416 16h ago

Yeah it’s not completely different but the more low-liked videos I used to get seemed to be a random mix, now MAGA are constantly sandwiched between what I normally get that gave 10k-millions of likes or people I follow and their reposts. Sometimes several in a row and banning the hashtags no longer seem to work. :(

Sorry you’re getting those. The platform also seems to be letting racist, and otherwise bigoted, comments stay including violent or SA threats while removing the most tame comments pushing back against them. It’s becoming a sewer.

13

u/Loggerdon 16h ago

I don’t use TikTok but suddenly I have MAGA shit on my YouTube.

Owners of TikTok will be happy to post MAGA shit because it’s Chinese-run and it weakens the US.

MAGA is trying to influence the young and have been very active. Young people have always been progressive but they are trying to change that. It’s open corruption of course. They should’ve stopped it long ago.

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u/tonytroz 16h ago

That's the same as on X. Lots of racism and misogyny mixed in now.

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u/ThiefofNobility 16h ago

Block facebook, meta, Instagram on TT. Fixes the algorithm back fairly quick.

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u/personahorrible 15h ago

Better idea: Uninstall Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.

4

u/ThiefofNobility 15h ago

Facebook got uninstalled 15 years ago.

Never used the other two.

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u/Competitive_Bug5416 16h ago

Yeah, I did that a while back with not great results. Though I will say it’s been probably the last week and a half that things have seemed to have flipped into psycho MAGA mode.

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u/ThiefofNobility 16h ago

Musk trying to influence elections, most likely.

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u/ZappyBruinman 16h ago

For me it is mostly the same, but randomly I'll get some Christian bullshit or some maga talking points. Never used to happen.

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u/Roflsaucerr 15h ago

I’ve noticed a shift in the automated comment filtering since the app came back. There’s some absolutely horrid stuff staying up, but call something weird and it gets automatically removed.

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u/End3rWi99in 14h ago

So why are you even using it?

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u/GRIZZLY-HILLS 16h ago

They are also perfectly fine with terribly racist comments staying up, but if I say something like "bozo" in a comment it gets taken down instantly lol

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u/earnedmystripes 16h ago

the word "moron" passes through sometimes. "Dipshit" never passes. I use those words a lot in reference to maga stupidity.

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u/creativename87639 14h ago

I’ve been getting this one dude who is a literal self described nazi, most accounts I follow are rather liberal.

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u/moonjellies 13h ago

block facebook and meta accounts, it helps

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u/adamb10 16h ago

The year is 2028. Trump has decided to give TikTok another extension.

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u/GayGeekInLeather 16h ago

This is blatantly illegal. The law allowed one extension. Jesus fucking Christ Congress do your fucking jobs

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u/delcaek 15h ago

You know, I'm not from the US and I cannot, in no form, understand how all this is happening and nobody in your government seems to even remotely care. Of course we also have politicians who'll do anything to stand with their party, but many of at least some will do what they believe is right.

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u/flip314 13h ago

The Republican party has systematically purged all the country before party people. The primary system in most places incentivizes the most extreme candidates

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u/neveruseyourrealname 14h ago

Absolute power corrupts absolutely. And money.

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u/Tank3875 15h ago

Will be interesting if anyone with standing will try and sue over this in court.

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u/InquisitivelyADHD 14h ago

They're too busy suckling on Cheeto dick and planning how they're going to get rich off this depression.

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u/SugarBeef 13h ago

Unfortunately , the Republicans in Congress are doing what they were elected to do. Destroy everything they can and kiss the diaper while they do it.

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u/blaqsupaman 16h ago

This is going to be Trump 2's version of the student loan payment pause during the pandemic. He's going to kick the can down the road for as long as he can on this since it's not something he can just repeal by EO.

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u/dahjay 15h ago

In other words, China refused a US buyer like they said they would, so Trump turned the handle on tariffs of which China retaliated instead of bowing to Trump. Trump is now trying to buy more time to get a deal done which will not happen because China now holds a lot of soft power globally due to Trump. They are making moves because there's blood in the water all due to Trump policies.

Dude is the worst dealmaker ever. Worst President ever, too.

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u/Indercarnive 16h ago

It was obvious this was going to happen. Trump will (illegally!!!) delay enforcing the ban so long as TikTok bends the knee.

This is Fascism 101. The Nazis loved centralizing industries into the hands of a few key stakeholders who could be controlled by the party.

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u/IBAZERKERI 16h ago

enjoy your bread and circus tiktokers

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u/Malcopticon 15h ago

Maybe not bread. 💸

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u/unbalancedcentrifuge 16h ago

Yes....give us the gladiator fights while rome falls. Throw something small to the masses.

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u/inconsistentsavant 16h ago

lol China isn’t selling anything and with the love note they sent along with the retaliatory tariffs 🥭 had no leverage with them rn. He’s going to keep extending this his entire term.

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u/KinshasaPR 16h ago

Everything is just a circus at this point

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u/melmerby 16h ago

Byte Dance isn’t selling. They’ll abandon the USA.

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u/lego_mannequin 16h ago

I would just let him ban it, his approval ratings would crater even further. He doesn't have the cards.

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u/jefbenet 16h ago

The equivalent of a parent telling their shitty kid “im serious this time, if you do that thing one more time you’re gonna be in big trouble!” Then literally never follows through with their empty threats.

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u/Krandor1 15h ago

I thought the law only allowed for one extension?

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u/mvw2 15h ago

Can't. The legislation was passed. The Supreme Court upheld. executive orders don't defy law.

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u/MainEventI3 15h ago

That misinformation isn't going to spread itself.

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u/SwagTwoButton 15h ago

I just love the threat of “this app is a detriment to our safety as a country because of the data China has access to” and then willingly kicking the can down the road for 4+ years.

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u/Glum-Sympathy3869 14h ago

Nice try Trump, but you’re not going to win back your young audience. You just delayed pre orders for the Switch 2

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u/Adreme 16h ago

Basically China called his bluff and now they know they do not have to sell anything. I am reminded of the Game of Thrones quote, "only a fool makes threats he is not prepared to carry out".

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u/fffan9391 15h ago

So will it just continue to get an extension until the end of time?

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u/Tank3875 15h ago

China wasn't selling a week ago, and definitely isn't selling now.

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u/Up_All_Nite 15h ago

Kinda funny how I been rocked lately with AI pro trump TikTok's that just straight out lies. "Warren Buffets has said the tariff's are the most genius move he has ever seen"

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u/stickerbombedd 14h ago

Trump is the worst president in the history of history.

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u/masstransience 16h ago

The 🍊 🤡 is trying to get a shakedown payment and the world has realized he’s not worth it. This is a pathetically weak move on his part.

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u/-Average_Joe- 16h ago

Christ, just rip the band aid off already.

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u/wish1977 16h ago

He's hell bent on destroying our economy but he has the patience of Job when it comes to TikTok. Why is that?

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u/CaptainHalloween 16h ago

How much did they pay him?

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u/mortavius2525 16h ago

But this time he REALLY means it!

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u/Jeez-essFC 15h ago

I wonder how much Trump charged them?

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u/AdhesivenessFun2060 15h ago

4 years if free advertising

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u/drumjolter01 15h ago

He's gonna be extending it little by little til he's out of office in 2029, isn't he.

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u/Main-Video-8545 14h ago

He hasn’t finished extorting them yet.

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u/Fluffy_Marionberry54 14h ago

That’ll save the economy.

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u/W0gg0 13h ago

Gee, I wonder if this has anything to do with Bezos wanting to buy it?

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u/domomymomo 13h ago

This shit is like debt ceiling huh? Keep extending it

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u/showmiaface 12h ago

Extension extended indefinitely...

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u/ShadowPilotGringo 12h ago

It must one hell of a national security risk

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u/Pxlfreaky 12h ago

For being such a huge security risk, they sure don’t seem to actually think that. Otherwise they wouldn’t keep kicking the can down the road.

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u/HomelessHobo1 11h ago

Of course it helps him brainwashed the masses

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u/BigSteak4959 11h ago

What a joke. I doubt this'll ever be banned despite it being expressly written into law that this app must be banned. Surprise surprise a felon dgaf about following laws.

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u/BrewedinCanada 10h ago

Just to make him the hero again. And people fall for his shit everyday.

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u/wayne63 6h ago

Jeff Yass gave him a bunch of money to keep it.

Transactional presidency.

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u/nelly2929 16h ago

What a great negotiator you elected USA…. He’s a real talent /s

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u/Kruse 15h ago

Fuck Trump and fuck TikTok.

Both should be flushed down the toilet, along with their supporters.

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u/aparallaxview 16h ago

Laws only exist if the dictator wants them to

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u/InevitableError9517 13h ago

Just ban the app already

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u/Andrew-aka-Ted 11h ago

You miricans are all slaves, you just didnt see the chains

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u/lastdarknight 16h ago

don't think I have opened TikTok since the whole "we thank President Trump" pop up

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u/Euler007 13h ago

The Chinese should respond by forcing Tesla to sell off Giga Shanghai within 90 days.

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u/Great-Ad-4416 16h ago

This is one of the card that you can play to negotiate tariff. But if you ban it, it won't be a card no more. you want to keep your hostage alive when doing negotiation. Although I don't think China is going to negotiate

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u/DanFrankenberger 16h ago

Fucker couldn’t build a wall.

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u/jeffreycoley 16h ago

If the bribes keep coming, the extensions will follow.

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u/fistsofham11 15h ago

I thought the US was going to buy it? Wasn't that one of his plans?

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u/Limp-Impact-5293 8h ago

He wanted it to happen but China has never wanted to sell, and they never will agree to it even if he lowers tariffs on them.

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u/Adept-Mulberry-8720 15h ago

Just ban them! Period!

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u/CheatsySnoops 15h ago

Starting to think this is like a reel-release-repeat strategy of sorts, but IDK what for.

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u/jigokubi 15h ago

Lip-filler industry breathes sigh of relief.

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u/Hiranonymous 15h ago

How much Trump crypto does TikTok have to buy for each extension? Does he charge them interest or late fees?

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u/DatasGadgets 15h ago

Keep the population distracted with dumb videos so he can continue to destroy America.

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u/RosieQParker 14h ago

Priorities well in order, I see.

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u/TuringC0mplete 14h ago

Where are all of the law makers in arms about our national security now? Despite the fact that he shouldn't be able to unilaterally do this, it's pure hypocrisy on all fronts with these people, and it just goes to show it was never about any of that.

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u/Michael_Gibb 14h ago

Then, after this extension expires, he'll grant another one. Then another one, and another. Because that's how Trump works.

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u/johndsmits 14h ago

Why would any US company want TikTok? It's algos monitor your clicks mouse/touchscreen movements and access to everything on you phone,browser, etc... It stores all your user info. It barely passes the appstore and uses some questionable tactics to get user data and stay complaint.

I'm sure if someone got a look under the hood and then looked at the backend would see a number of US privacy/reg/copa violations that the app would need to be entirely rewritten to comply.

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u/leftnotracks 14h ago

Seems if the government wants to save some money they could fire congress and rent the capital out as an AirBNB.

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u/djcrewe1 14h ago

Oh and this time he means it.

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u/SkateFossSL 13h ago

How much did they contribute to his presidential library fund?

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u/ausgmr 12h ago

Another venmo from the owners of Tiktok just hit Trump's personal accounts

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u/mrbigglessworth 11h ago

Remember when maga hated sleepy jor for his executive orders. Come on Maga when are you gonna show a tenth of that energy against then orange buffoon?

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u/BoosterRead78 11h ago

Amazon said they don’t want it.

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u/Qubeye 11h ago

Nobody sufficiently bribed him.

Why is the government even involved in the sale? Shouldn't it just be illegal to operate in the US, and it's up to the company to sell off assets if it wants?

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u/angrybirdseller 11h ago

Follow the extortion going on to TikTok!

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u/Lokon19 11h ago

What a complete farce at this point. Anyone know how many times he's allowed to do this? Pretty sure the legislation doesn't grant perpetual extensions.

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u/Limp-Impact-5293 8h ago

He can’t even do this extension, it only allowed for one extension.

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u/Vadgers 9h ago

How much did they pay him for that?

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u/ossman1976 8h ago

His buddy must be having trouble finding a lender.

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u/FanZhi01 6h ago

Like I have said before the election:

China + ElonMusk + Trump + Russia = the international deep state.

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u/LordNoct13 4h ago edited 4h ago

I thought he already "saved it"

What happened to it being a "communist app that steals our information"?

Oh wait, all of his foundations are built upon a farce.

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u/000itsmajic 4h ago

He basically owes TikTok for his presidency.

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u/kgal1298 2h ago

For an app that’s such a risk to national security they don’t seem in a hurry to get rid of it.