Trump Asks Supreme Court to Delay TikTok Ban

President-elect Donald Trump in a legal filing Friday asked the Supreme Court to delay a potential ban on Chinese-owned social media app TikTok due to take effect in January to allow time for him to negotiate a way to “save the platform.”

The Washington Post reports Trump’s intervention follows his campaign promises to keep the popular social media app accessible to its more than 170 million U.S. users if he won. His brief was filed as a friend-of-the-court, not siding with either party to the case.

The Washington Post previously reported that advisers to the president-elect expected him to intervene on TikTok’s behalf if necessary, despite Trump previously attempting to ban TikTok himself, citing national security concerns about its Chinese ownership. President Joe Biden rescinded that order when he entered the White House in 2021.

Trump suggested at a rally in Arizona Sunday that his recent popularity on TikTok had encouraged him to consider attempting to push back on the ban threatening the app. “We had billions of views, billions and billions of views,” he said. “They brought me a chart, and it was a record, and it was so beautiful to see. And as I looked at it, I said, ‘Maybe we got to keep this sucker around a little while.’”

TikTok became a key part of Trump’s online campaign this year, with his account featuring celebrity cameos and unscripted behind-the-scenes moments with the candidate.

The app is particularly popular with younger adults, the Pew Research Center found in a 2024 survey, with 59 percent of adults under 30 saying they use the app. Only 32 percent of U.S. adults support a government ban on TikTok, Pew found in a separate survey this year, down from 50 percent in March 2023.