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TikTok awaits Trump executive order to grant time for deal

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China signals open to deal to keep TikTok operating in US

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Not all in Republican Party support 'Save TikTok' efforts

(Updates to reflect Trump taking office, adds TikTok CEO at

inauguration and Musk statement)

By Kenneth Li and Katie Paul

Jan 20 (Reuters) -

TikTok awaited an executive order granting it more time to

strike a deal after President

Donald Trump returned to power on Monday, as China signaled

it would be open to a transaction to keep the app in the U.S.

market.

The short video service used by 170 million Americans was

briefly taken offline for U.S. users on Saturday, hours before a

law that said it must be sold by its Chinese owner ByteDance on

national security grounds took effect on Sunday. U.S. officials

had said that under ByteDance, there was a risk of Americans'

data being misused.

TikTok restored access on Sunday and thanked Trump for providing

assurances to TikTok and its business partners that they would

not face hefty fines to keep the app running. The app and

website were operational on Monday, but TikTok was still not

available for download in the Apple ( AAPL ) and Google

app stores, suggesting the two companies were waiting

for clearer legal assurances.

"Frankly, we have no choice. We have to save it," Trump said at

a rally on Sunday ahead of his inauguration, adding that the

U.S. will seek a joint venture to restore the app used by half

of Americans.

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew attended the inauguration, as well as a

service at St. John's Episcopal Church in Washington with Trump

on Monday. Chew was joined by several Big Tech chief executives

including Amazon.com ( AMZN ) founder Jeff Bezos, Meta

CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Google CEO Sundar Pichai.

The company also sponsored an inauguration party Sunday, hosted

by the organizers of conservative youth and dating groups.

Trump earlier said he will issue an executive order to give

TikTok a reprieve from the ban after he takes office, a promise

TikTok cited in a notice posted to users on the app.

That announcement came as China indicated for the first time it

would be open to a transaction keeping TikTok operating in the

U.S.

When asked about the app's restoration and Trump's desire for a

deal, China's foreign ministry told a regular news briefing on

Monday that it believed companies should "decide independently"

about their operations and deals.

"TikTok has operated in the U.S. for many years and is

deeply loved by American users," ministry spokesperson Mao Ning

said. "We hope that the U.S. can earnestly listen to the voice

of reason and provide an open, fair, just and non-discriminatory

business environment for firms operating there."

'SAVING TIKTOK'

The debate over TikTok comes at a tense moment in U.S.-China

relations. Trump has said he intends to place tariffs on China

but has also indicated he hopes to have more direct contact with

China's leader.

Trump saving TikTok represents a reversal in stance from his

first term in office. In 2020, he aimed to ban the app over

concerns the company was sharing Americans' personal info with

the Chinese government. More recently, Trump has said he has "a

warm spot in my heart for TikTok," crediting the app with

helping him win over young voters in the 2024 presidential

election.

In August 2020, Trump signed an executive order giving

ByteDance 90 days to sell TikTok but then blessed a deal

structured as a partnership rather than a divestment that would

have included both Oracle and Walmart ( WMT ) taking

stakes in the new company.

Elon Musk, a major donor and close advisor to Trump this time,

indicated on Sunday that he wanted to see any TikTok talks used

to secure concessions in China for American social media

services, including his platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

"I have been against a TikTok ban for a long time, because

it goes against freedom of speech. That said, the current

situation where TikTok is allowed to operate in America, but X

is not allowed to operate in China is unbalanced. Something

needs to change," Musk wrote in an X post.

Not everyone in Trump's Republican Party agreed with efforts

to get around the law and "Save TikTok."

Republican senators Tom Cotton and Pete Ricketts said in a

joint statement: "Now that the law has taken effect, there is no

legal basis for any kind of 'extension' of its effective date.

For TikTok to come back online in the future, ByteDance must

agree to a sale that satisfies the law's qualified-divestiture

requirements by severing all ties between TikTok and Communist

China."

The U.S. has never banned a major social media platform. The

law passed overwhelmingly by Congress gives the incoming Trump

administration sweeping authority to ban or seek the sale of

other Chinese-owned apps.