Official statements or press releases from the Trump administration

Biden Leaves TikTok Ban Decision to Trump, Set for Jan. 19

Jan 17, 2025, 08:06 AM

President Joe Biden will not enforce a ban on the social media app TikTok that is set to take effect a day before he leaves office on Monday, a U.S. official said. The decision leaves the app's fate in the hands of President-elect Donald Trump. Congress last year required that TikTok's China-based parent company ByteDance divest the company by Jan. 19, a day before the presidential inauguration. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal Biden administration thinking. Trump, who once sought to ban the app, has since pledged to keep it available in the U.S., though his transition team has not detailed how they intend to accomplish this.