The Supreme Court was asked to let Trump rescue Tik Tok

A petition to the U.S. Supreme Court to block a Twitter-based anti-TikTok social media platform from the 2016 election

There is still pressure to enforce a ban on TikTok. Several senators and congressmen, includingMitch McConnell and Ro Khanna, filed petitions with the Supreme Court on Friday urging it to reject TikTok’s appeal.

Trump argues that having over 14 million followers on TikTok, along with his ownership of Truth Social, gives him unique ability to “evaluate TikTok’s importance as a unique medium for freedom of expression, including core political speech.” He also cites Brazil’s temporary ban of Elon Musk’s X as an example of “the historic dangers presented” by a government banning a social media platform.

The argument submitted to the court is the latest example of Trump inserting himself in national issues before he takes office. The Republican president-elect has begun negotiations with other countries and called for a bipartisan plan to be rejected in order to fund the federal government.

Trump petitioned the Supreme Court to grant him a stay of the January 19th deadline, arguing that he would be able to negotiate a better deal with the General Assembly in order to get the bill passed.

He offers no details on what said deal would look like, though it would likely have to involve ByteDance selling a signification portion of its ownership in TikTok to an American company.

The case of Trump against the censorship of the social network app, TikTok, and ByteDance, in a brief filed before the Supreme Court

Trump has also reversed his position on the popular app, having tried to ban it during his first term in office over national security concerns. He joined the app during his 2024 presidential campaign and his team used it to connect with younger voters, especially male voters, by pushing content that was often macho and aimed at going viral.

Attorneys for TikTok and ByteDance wrote to the Supreme Court that the federal appeals court was wrong to base its decision on the risk that China could exercise control over the platform.

But the government “concedes that it has no evidence China has ever attempted to do so,” TikTok’s legal filing said, adding that the U.S. fears are predicated on future risks.

President Trump doesn’t have a position on the merits of the dispute. Instead, he respectfully requests that the Court consider staying the Act’s deadline for divestment of January 19, 2025, while it considers the merits of this case,” said Trump’s amicus brief, which supported neither party in the case and was written by D. John Sauer, Trump’s choice for solicitor general.