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Tracking Donald Trump's complete position change on banning TikTok in the US

Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu, Samantha Putterman and Amy Sherman  |  PolitiFact.com

In July 2020, then-President Donald Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, "As far as TikTok is concerned, we’re banning them from the United States." The next month, he signed an executive order seeking to ban the app.

Flash forward four years: During the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump joined TikTok and spoke glowingly in support of it.

"For all those that want to save Tik Tok in America, vote for Trump!" he said in a Sept. 4 video on Truth Social. "The other side is closing it up. But I’m now a big star on TikTok." He has 14.8 million TikTok followers, compared with 8.52 million Truth Social followers. 

President Joe Biden signed bipartisan legislation in April that would eventually ban TikTok unless it is sold to a U.S. company.

PolitiFact has a Flip-O-Meter to measure politicians’ consistency on issues. The rating is not making a value judgment about a politician who changes positions on an issue. Some people say changing positions shows inconsistent principles; others say it shows pragmatism and willingness to compromise given new information.

Trump’s changing stance appears to mirror public opinion. In March 2023, 50% of U.S. adults supported banning TikTok, but that fell to 32% in summer 2024, Pew Research Center found. Republicans poll respondents supported banning the app more than Democrats did, but their ban support also declined over the time. One-third of U.S. adults said in 2023 they used TikTok, up 12 percentage points from 2021, Pew Research found.

We asked Trump’s transition team why he flip-flopped.

"President Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to save TikTok, and there's no better deal maker than President Trump," said Karoline Leavitt, Trump-Vance transition team spokeswoman.

PolitiFact has a partnership with TikTok to counter inauthentic, misleading or false content. 

Trump’s 2020 words and actions showed support for banning TikTok

In July 2020, Trump began signaling his intention to ban TikTok — partly as retaliation for the COVID-19 pandemic, which he blamed on China, where TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, is based. His campaign released political ads on Facebook and Instagram accusing TikTok of "spying" on users.

"Do you think we should ban TikTok? Sign the petition NOW!" one ad, which has since been deleted, said.

At that time, then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Trump administration officials were "looking at" a TikTok ban.

Trump was asked about a potential ban after Pompeo’s remarks.

"It’s something we’re looking at, yes," Trump said in an interview with Gray Television, Bloomberg News reported. "It’s a big business. Look, what happened with China with this virus, what they’ve done to this country and to the entire world is disgraceful."

On Aug. 6, 2020, Trump signed Executive Order 13942, which sought to ban TikTok, citing national security concerns.

"At this time, action must be taken to address the threat posed by one mobile application in particular, TikTok ... The United States must take aggressive action against the owners of TikTok to protect our national security," Trump wrote in the order.

Trump argued that TikTok’s data collection practices threatened "to allow the Chinese Communist Party access to Americans’ personal and proprietary information," which could be used for blackmail and corporate espionage.

The order sought to apply its TikTok ban within 45 days unless ByteDance agreed to sell the app to a U.S. company. American companies including Microsoft Corp., Oracle Corp. and Walmart lined up to make an offer that would have sold off TikTok’s business in the U.S. and some other countries.

But two federal courts struck down Trump’s order in October 2020. A month later, Trump lost the presidential election.

Trump joined TikTok and opposed the ban in 2024 

In 2024, as a presidential candidate, Trump said he opposed a ban.In response to a bipartisan congressional bill that sought to ban TikTok, Trump said he no longer favored a ban because it would help Meta. 

"If you get rid of TikTok, Facebook and Zuckerschmuck will double their business," he wrote March 7 on TruthSocial, referring to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. (Post-election, Trump and Zuckerberg have become allies.)

On March 11, 2024, Trump told CNBC that although he considered TikTok’s national security and privacy concerns, the company was not the only social media platform with those problems.

In a subsequent interview that month on Fox News, Trump said he opposed a ban because "there is a danger with banning it, with you know, freedom of speech." 

Trump also denied accusations from some of his supporters, including political strategist Steve Bannon, that he had reversed his position after a March meeting with Jeff Yass, a major Republican donor who owns a 7% share, worth about $21 billion, of ByteDance, NBC News reported. Trump told Fox News he didn’t know about Yass’ link to the company when they met and said they didn’t talk about TikTok.

In a June 2, statement, a day after joining TikTok, Trump said he created the account "to use every tool available to speak directly with the American people about how Joe Biden's failed presidency is tearing apart our beautiful nation and how I am going to stop him." 

After winning the election, Trump continued to speak favorably about the app. Asked at a Dec. 16 news conference about whether he’ll try to stop the TikTok ban, Trump said, "I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok." 

On Dec. 27, Trump filed a brief with the Supreme Court, asking justices to stay the ban’s Jan. 19 effective date to let his administration negotiate a resolution.

"President Trump opposes banning TikTok in the United States at this juncture, and seeks the ability to resolve the issues at hand through political means once he takes office," the brief stated.

The New York Times reported Jan. 15 that the Trump Vance Inaugural Committee invited TikTok CEO Shou Chew to the inauguration, along with other prominent tech executives, including Zuckerberg. 

PolitiFact's ruling

In July 2020, Trump said, "As far as TikTok is concerned, we’re banning them from the United States." The next month, he signed an executive order that sought to ban the app; courts struck it down.

During the 2024 campaign, Trump spoke often against a ban. In a December filing with the Supreme Court, Trump said he "opposes banning TikTok in the United States at this juncture."

Trump has completely changed his position on a TikTok ban. That meets our definition of a Full Flop.

PolitiFact Researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.

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