US President-elect Donald Trump has not ruled out the possibility of continued Chinese ownership of TikTok, if steps are taken to ensure the protection of American users' data and its storage in the United States, incoming national security adviser Mike Walz told CNN on Sunday.
Trump said he would restore access to TikTok in the US via executive order after he is sworn in on Monday, but said he wanted the popular social network to be at least 50 percent owned by American investors.
TikTok stopped working for its 170 million US users today after a law went into effect, banning further use of the app over concerns that Americans' data could be misused by Chinese officials, Reuters reports.
Walz, a member of Congress whose nomination as national security adviser must be confirmed by the Senate, told CNN that Trump is working to "save TikTok" and is not ruling out continued Chinese ownership while putting in place "firewalls to ensure that data is protected on American soil."
Trump said he would "most likely" give TikTok a 90-day moratorium on the ban after he takes office on Monday, a promise TikTok cited in a notice posted to users on the app.
"I would like the United States to have 50 percent ownership in the joint venture. That way we save TikTok, keep it in good hands, and allow it to survive," he wrote on the Truth Social platform.
Walz also spoke to CBS News on Sunday and said Trump needs time to resolve issues related to TikTok, adding that the extension is needed so TikTok can evaluate proposed buyers.
However, House Speaker Mike Johnson sent contradictory signals, saying he believed Trump would insist that TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, sell the app.
"Based on what we're reading, he's going to try to push for a real sale, a change of ownership," Johnson said. "It's not the platform that members of Congress are concerned about. It's the Chinese Communist Party."
Some of Trump's fellow Republicans in Congress oppose the idea of extending the TikTok extension.
Republican Senators Tom Cotton, who is chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and Pete Ricketts, issued a joint statement saying "there is no legal basis for any 'extension' of the effective date of the ban."
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