Many tech leaders and tech companies have been courting newly elected President Donald J. Trump in recent weeks. From Meta's Mark Zuckerberg to Amazon's founder Jeff Bezos, they've visited Mr. Trump at Mar-a-Lago, flattered him on X and donated to his inaugural fund.
But TikTok has taken these methods to the next level.
As the Chinese-owned social app battles a federal law that bans it in the United States unless it is sold, the app has publicly referenced Mr. Trump and then thanked him for his support in statements and in videos since Friday. It even built its flattery right into the app for its 170 million US users to see:
“As a result of President Trump's efforts, TikTok is back in the US!” read a pop-up message on Sunday.
TikTok CEO Shou Chew filmed his own thank-you video to Mr. Trump last week, even referencing the president's personal TikTok account. Mr. Chew also visited Mr. Trump at Mar-a-Lago and was invited to sit in a position of honor on the stage at Mr. Trump's inauguration on Monday.
TikTok “will do everything it can to appease the authorities” while facing this ban, said Anupam Chander, a professor of law and technology at Georgetown University and an expert on the global regulation of new technologies.
“TikTok seeks the president's favor in these ways because their survival in this country depends on him,” Chander said in an interview on Sunday. “He is their lifeline and that is why they make sure they stay on his good side.”
TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Mr. Trump may not be able to save the app in the long run, as he has stated. He pledged early Sunday to issue an executive order to give ByteDance, TikTok's Chinese owner, more time to make a sale that would comply with the law, but it's not clear whether he can extend the timeline now that the law has come into force – or that he has in mind a sale that would meet the conditions of the law. Mr. Trump seems committed. Even before his post promised an executive order, he posted in all caps on the social media platform Truth Social: “SAVE TIKTOK!”
The Biden administration also tried to make clear over the weekend that TikTok did not have to close on Sunday to comply with the law, calling the decision to go dark “a stunt.”
“We have made our position clear and unambiguous: actions to implement this law will fall to the next administration,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.
Mr. Trump's support for TikTok is relatively new. During his first term, he tried to ban the app in the country unless ByteDance sold it to an American company.
But he changed his position in March 2024, around the time of a meeting with Jeff Yass, a billionaire investor and Republican megadonor who owns a significant portion of ByteDance. Mr. Trump has said they have not discussed the company. Mr. Yass helped found the trading firm Susquehanna International Group.
TikTok has also tried to gain access to Republicans and the Trump campaign through Tony Sayegh, a former Treasury Department official in the Trump administration. Mr. Sayegh, who runs public affairs for Susquehanna, was a key part of the Trump campaign's decision to join TikTok this summer.
Mr Trump was an instant hit on TikTok, where he now has more than 14 million followers. Several members of his family, including Donald Trump Jr. and his granddaughter Kai Trump, have also joined the app.
