[ad_1]
“As for TikTok, we are banning this device from working in the United States,” Trump told reporters.
Trump said he could use extraordinary economic powers or an execution order to ban enforcement in the United States. However, it is still unclear what such an arrangement would look like.
“Well, I have that kind of power,” added the president.
There were reports on Friday that Trump would demand that the Chinese company ByteDance, which operates the app, abandon operations in the United States, but the president finally announced that the app would be banned entirely.
In recent weeks, politicians and experts have expressed concern that the China-linked TikTok may pose a national security risk.
The U.S. government is conducting a TikTok national security review and is preparing to make recommendations to Trump, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters at the White House this week.
ByteDance has been considering changes to its corporate structure and has reportedly already considered selling the majority of TikTok shares.
Microsoft negotiated the acquisition of TikTok, the New York Times quoted a person familiar with the discussion, but Microsoft declined to comment on CNN’s business.
However, in his decision, Trump strongly rejected the idea of a possible deal that would satisfy national security concerns.
Critics of TikTok are concerned that the data the app collects about its US users may fall into the hands of the Chinese government, although TikTok itself has said it stores its data outside of China and will oppose any attempt by from Beijing to misuse information.
Cybersecurity experts said the potential TikTok threat to national security was largely theoretical and that there was no evidence to suggest that Chinese intelligence had corrupted the data of TikTok users.
[ad_2]
