Why did Trump change his mind about banning TikTok?

"If you take TikTok out, Facebook and Zuckerschmuck will double their business. I don't want Facebook, which cheated on the last election, to be any better. They are the real enemy of the people," former President Donald Trump wrote on his social network Truth Social last week. Zuckerschmuck is a portmanteau of Mark Zuckerberg's last name (Facebook founder) and the German word schmuck (idiot), which Trump used to denigrate the Facebook boss.

Former US President Donald Trump at a campaign event in Georgia on March 9

Mr Trump's comments were surprising because he was at the forefront of efforts to ban TikTok in the US over national security concerns.

Just before Mr. Trump’s new announcement, the US House Energy and Commerce Committee voted on March 7 to advance a bill that would force ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, to divest its ownership of the app within 165 days or face a complete ban. The bill has bipartisan support from lawmakers and is expected to be voted on by the US House of Representatives next week. US President Joe Biden, Mr. Trump’s election opponent, has also expressed support for the bill.

Neither Trump nor his re-election campaign have posted anything on TikTok, but the former president's shift in stance is seen as a sign that he has recognized the platform's outsized role for young voters, according to Axios . Biden's re-election campaign has also opened an account on TikTok, drawing strong criticism.

Trump’s speeches and content related to him regularly attract tens of millions of views on TikTok. Celebrities supporting Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, comedians with conservative political leanings and cultural commentators with large followings are all active on TikTok, which has increasingly become a top news source for younger generations.

Alex Bruesewitz, a Trump ally and Republican strategist, said MAGA-related content is popular on TikTok. “Meta (Facebook’s parent company) is blocking MAGA content on both Facebook and Instagram,” Bruesewitz said. Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Another factor that could influence Trump's views on TikTok is his recently improved relationship with billionaire Jeff Yass, who has a large stake in ByteDance and has spent millions of dollars funding pro-TikTok lawmakers, according to Axios .

Days before his TikTok comments, Mr. Trump praised Mr. Yass for inviting him to a retreat run by a powerful conservative group that opposes banning TikTok. Mr. Yass has donated $4.9 million to Vivek Ramaswamy, the only Republican presidential candidate to join TikTok.

Trump's new stance could divide Republicans, who have spent years opposing TikTok. "This is a huge mistake by the Trump campaign," Fox News host Laura Ingraham wrote on social media X. Republican Senator Josh Hawley opposed it, while Senator Rand Paul backed Trump, calling it a First Amendment protection of free speech.

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