Donald Trump Jokes About Tiktok Content, Says 'I'd Make It 100% MAGA'

(MENAFN- Live Mint) Following the signing of an executive order to transfer control of the Chinese social media app TikTok to an American business group, US President Donald Trump joked about the content on the platform.

During a signing ceremony in the Oval Office on Thursday, the president confirmed that Chinese President Xi Jinping had approved the roughly $14 billion deal, which satisfies American national security requirements.

When questioned on whether the app's algorithm would now feature more MAGA-related content, Trump responded:“I always like MAGA-related. If I could, I'd make it a hundred per cent MAGA related.”

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“If I could make it one hundred per cent MAGA, I would,” he said.“But it's not going to work out that way, unfortunately. No, everyone's going to be treated fairly.”

Trump delays enforcement of law mandating app's sale or ban

Trump signed an executive order to advance the transfer of TikTok's control to an American business group, while simultaneously delaying the enforcement of the law mandating the app's sale or ban.

The move comes in response to legislation signed last year by then-President Joe Biden, which required China's ByteDance to sell TikTok's US assets to an American company by early this year or face a nationwide ban.

Trump's order on Thursday postponed the enforcement of that law until January 20, allowing time to finalize the extraction of TikTok's US assets from the global platform, secure American and other investors, and win approval from the Chinese government.

Vice President JD Vance specified the new US company would be valued at around $14 billion, a price tag for the popular short video app that is reportedly far below many analyst estimates.

For historical context, Trump's own prior attempt during his first term to ban the company through executive action was abandoned after facing a court challenge.

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The executive order's publication confirms the administration's progress on the forced divestiture of TikTok's US assets from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance. As the provided text notes, the central complication lies in securing and separating TikTok's most valuable asset: its recommendation algorithm. The order attempts to navigate the clash between U.S. national security concerns and China's legal restrictions on technology exports.

"There was some resistance on the Chinese side, but the fundamental thing that we wanted to accomplish is that we wanted to keep TikTok operating, but we also wanted to make sure that we protected Americans' data privacy as required by law," Vance told reporters at an Oval Office briefing.

Trump's order says the algorithm will be retrained and monitored by the US company's security partners, and the new joint venture will control its operation.

The new American joint venture is set to license a copy of TikTok's core recommendation algorithm from ByteDance.

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