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Waltz made the comment when Fox News anchor Bret Baier asked him
about a report from The Washington Post that said Trump was
considering an executive order to suspend enforcement of a
federal law that could ban the popular platform nationwide by
Sunday.
Last week, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a legal
challenge to the statute brought by TikTok, its China-based
parent company ByteDance, and users of the app. The Justices
seemed likely to uphold the law, which requires ByteDance to
divest TikTok on national security grounds or face a ban in one
of its biggest markets.
“If the Supreme Court comes out with a ruling in favor of the
law, President Trump has been very clear: Number one, TikTok is
a great platform that many Americans use and has been great for
his campaign and getting his message out. But number two, he’s
going to protect their data,” Waltz said.
“He’s a deal maker. I don’t want to get ahead of our executive
orders, but we’re going to create this space to put that deal in
place," he added.
Separately on Wednesday, Pam Bondi, Trump’s pick for attorney
general, dodged a question during a Senate hearing on whether
she’d uphold a TikTok ban.
Trump has reversed his position on the popular app, having tried
to ban it during his first term in office over national security
concerns. He joined TikTok during his 2024 presidential campaign
and his team used it to connect with younger voters, especially
male voters, by pushing content that was often macho and aimed
at going viral. He pledged to “save TikTok” during the campaign
and has credited the platform with helping him win more youth
votes.
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