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Donald Trump has spoken out against a bill that would ban TikTok in the USA: TikTok is not as dangerous as Facebook.
Washington, DC - Former US President Donald Trump will not support a US ban on TikTok, he said on Monday (March 11) - despite seeing the Chinese-owned social platform as a national security risk.
However, a ban on TikTok would strengthen the social network Facebook, which he sees as an “enemy of the people,” said Trump.
Former US President Donald Trump has commented on TikTok.
© David Walter Banks/The Washington Post
In an interview with CNBC's "Squawk Box," Trump also claimed that he almost banned TikTok when he was president.
“I was at a point where I could have pushed it through if I had wanted to,” the former president said.
However, he would have left the decision to the US Congress, which ultimately did not pass a corresponding law.
“Honestly, there are a lot of people on TikTok who love it.
Young kids would go crazy without TikTok.
Lots of users,” Trump said of the social media app’s popularity.
“There's a lot of good and a lot of bad about TikTok, but what I don't like is that you can make Facebook bigger without TikTok.
I consider Facebook to be an enemy of the people, along with much of the media.”
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Donald Trump accuses Facebook of election fraud
When asked if he still viewed TikTok as a threat to national security, Trump replied that he did.
But he again points the finger at Facebook and other unnamed American companies, which he also described as security risks.
Trump's comments were similar to a post he made the week before on his own social media platform, Truth Social, in which he falsely accused Facebook of "cheating" in the last election.
“If you get rid of TikTok, Facebook and [co-founder Mark Zuckerberg] will double their business,” Trump wrote.
“You are a true enemy of the people!”
Facebook banned Donald Trump – the ex-president then founded “Truth Social”
Citing his comments in the lead-up to the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 - in which a pro-Trump mob stormed the building to prevent the certification of Joe Biden's election victory - Facebook suspended Trump for two years.
Facebook said at the time that it would not unblock him until “the risk to public safety has diminished.”
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Facebook's parent company, which has since been renamed "Meta," made Trump's Facebook and Instagram accounts available again in January 2023.
In the interview on Monday (March 11), Trump also denied that a recent meeting with hedge fund manager Jeff Yass is the reason he changed his stance on TikTok.
Yass is a Republican Party donor who is involved in TikTok.
“He never mentioned TikTok,” Trump said.
“[His wife] mentioned school choice.” TikTok representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.
Congress debates bill to ban TikTok in US
Trump's comments about TikTok come amid debate in the US Congress over a bill that could lead to a ban on the app in the United States.
US President Joe Biden said he would sign the law if it reached his desk.
The bill is the latest threat to the app.
Despite critics' concerns about data security and Chinese ties, it says it has more than 170 million monthly active users in the US.
The bill would not ban TikTok outright, but would force Chinese parent company ByteDance to sell the app or face restrictions that could bar it from U.S. app stores.
TikTok ban in the USA: House of Representatives committee unanimously in favor
On Thursday (March 8), a House committee unanimously approved the bill by a vote of 50-0.
Previously, TikTok users flooded congressional offices with calls to protest the measure.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said he supported the measure, and House Minority Leader Steve Scalise vowed to bring the bill to a vote this week.
However, the bill must pass both chambers before reaching Joe Biden's desk, and the Senate still needs to introduce legislation to do so.
Will Oremus and Drew Harwell contributed to this report.
About the author
Amy B. Wang
is a national politics reporter.
She joined The Washington Post in 2016 after working at the Arizona Republic for seven years.
We are currently testing machine translations. This article was automatically translated from English into German.
This article was first published in English on March 12, 2024 at the “Washingtonpost.com” - as part of a cooperation, it is now also available in translation to readers of the IPPEN.MEDIA portals.