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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
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Emily Taylor

Why Trump’s change of heart on TikTok? This is about self-interest, not security

Phone screen with message from TikTok reading: Welcome back! Thanks for your patience and support. As a result of President Donald Trump's efforts, TikTok is back in the US!
Donald Trump has signed an executive order delaying the banning of TikTok. Photograph: Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto/REX/Shutterstock

When asked for his reasons for delaying the ban on TikTok, President Trump, a man not unfamiliar with changing his mind, said: “Because I got to use it.”

This is quite some change of heart. It was he who, in 2020, signed an executive order citing the “national emergency” posed by the Chinese-owned video-sharing platform. Five years later, Trump, now positioned as the saviour of TikTok, has said that he has “a warm spot” for the platform. Coached by his son Barron, Trump amassed 15 million TikTok followers and says the platform is the reason he won the youth vote by 36 points (a claim that is not substantiated).

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