Why Trump is now a fan of TikTok and is inviting the app's CEO to his inauguration

Fallon Roth, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Jan 16, 2025

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Shou Chew, TikTok’s chief executive, will plan to attend President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration Monday as the popular social media platform’s days are numbered in the United States.

Chew will join other major tech moguls, including Elon Musk whose extensive campaigning for Trump in Pennsylvania allowed him to become a central figure in the president-elect’s political orbit. Chew’s highly coveted invitation to sit in a position of honor on the dais comes as Trump could be the CEO’s last hope to prevent the app from being banned in the U.S., the New York Times reported.

Though some legal experts say his options may be limited, Trump is considering an executive order to allow TikTok to continue its operations.

Trump publicly reversed his position on TikTok late last year, soon after meeting with Jeff Yass, Pennsylvania’s richest man and a GOP megadonor who owns a large share of ByteDance, the Chinese-based company that owns TikTok. Congress passed a law last year, citing worries over national security, that instructs ByteDance to sell TikTok to a non-Chinese company or cease its availability in the U.S. by Jan. 19. The Supreme Court is planning to rule on the law in the coming days.

Trump, who tried to block the app in the U.S. and pressure a sale to U.S. companies during his first term, said they did not discuss the company during their meeting. But there has still been speculation as to whether Yass influenced Trump’s change of heart.

Representatives for Yass did not respond to a request for comment about whether he will attend the inauguration.

Yass is a staunch supporter of Club for Growth, an anti-tax lobbying group that has advocated on behalf of TikTok in Washington, the Times reported. The group has hired people who work closely with Trump, including GOP advisers Kellyanne Conway and David Urban.

As the cofounder of Bala Cynwyd-based Susquehanna International Group, one of Wall Street’s largest trading firms, and a GOP megadonor with an approximate net worth of $49.6 billion as of Jan. 16, Yass has utilized his influence in other political landscapes, including in Pennsylvania’s attorney general race where Republican Dave Sunday was victorious.

After reaching peak political popularity on the app during the 2024 election — he currently has 14.8 million followers there — and meeting with TikTok executives on Dec. 16 at Mar-a-Lago, Trump has come to embrace TikTok.

However, his ability to save the app could be limited. Some legal experts say he could likely only flex his presidential power by using a part of the law giving him the authority to determine whether ByteDance has done enough to take TikTok out of the Chinese government’s hands.

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