Unfortunately, Trump Played the TikTok Ban Perfectly
The TikTok ban saga perfectly captures both Republican cynicism and Democratic incompetence: Trump takes credit for “saving” an app his administration originally moved to ban, while Democrats fumble another opportunity to connect with young people.
Donald Trump has not only managed to evade responsibility for his role in promoting the TikTok ban but has taken credit for ending it. (VCG via Getty Images)
In the days approaching January 19, 2025, millions of TikTok content creators and consumers prepared to say their final goodbyes to the app. After a TikTok ban was passed in Congress, requiring the app either to be sold to an American company on an impossible timeline or to go dark, it appeared the social media platform would be pulled out from under its 170 million US-based users.
As promised, on the evening of January 18, TikTok went dark. A message appeared for users attempting to open the app that read:
A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now. We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office.
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