Is TikTok Still Getting Banned? Why Trump reversed the ban

On January 23, 2025By Littum

Twelve hours after 170 million Americans lost access to TikTok over the weekend, the popular social media app suddenly reappeared.

Users opened TikTok on Sunday to a “welcome back” message.

“Thank you for your patience and support,” the pop-up read. “As a result of President Trump’s efforts, TikTok is back in the US!”

After the Supreme Court upheld the TikTok ban last week, users have some questions. Why did Trump restore TikTok access and how did he do it? Did anyone buy TikTok’s US operations?

Here’s what we know.

TikTok ban reversal: Why did Trump bring back TikTok?

As one of his first moves after his initiationpresident Donald Trump issued an executive order on Monday aims to halt the enforcement of a ban on TikTok in the US for 75 days.

“I intend to consult with my advisors, including the heads of relevant departments and agencies about the national security concerns that TikTok presents, and to pursue a resolution that protects national security while saving a platform used by 170 million Americans,” Trump said in the paper. announcement. “My administration must also review sensitive intelligence related to these concerns and evaluate the adequacy of mitigation measures TikTok has taken to date.”

Trump’s order comes days after Congress passed the ban with overwhelming bipartisan support, citing national security concerns. TikTok’s owner, Beijing-based ByteDance, drew criticism after the US Justice Department said TikTok has access to US data and shares it with the Chinese government and could manipulate content on the app to shape US opinion.

The first ban was proposed by Trump himself in 2020 announcement. His ban, which also gave ByteDance a deadline to sell to an American company, happened to come a month later TikTokkers gleefully trolled him by organizing a campaign through the app to sign up for seats at his rallies, prompting Trump to brag about the number of responses received and then no-shows.

While ByteDance was in talks to sell to Microsoft and Oracle, the company filed for a preliminary injunction to prevent the app from being banned and got it, so Trump’s ban never took effect.

Biden later revoked the order and ordered the Commerce Secretary to investigate the app. In 2022, Biden signed a bill banning the app on public entities. Following the Supreme Court ruling last week, he signed legislation requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok’s US assets by January 19, 2025.

Despite his actions five years ago, Trump appears to have changed his mind about the video-sharing app.

“Because I have to,” Trump told reporters Monday during a extensive Oval Office media session when asked why he changed his mind about TikTok. “And remember, TikTok is very much about kids, young kids. If China wants to get information about little kids, I don’t know. To be honest with you, I think we have bigger problems than that.”

Who bought TikTok in 2025? Did Meta buy TikTok? Did Elon Musk?

As of Wednesday, it was still unclear whether TikTok’s US operations were being sold, and if so, to whom.

Some users have speculated that Meta bought the app, citing TikTok’s feature that allows users to sync with their Facebook accounts. Others noted that Facebook has an official account on TikTok. However, That’s what Newsweek writes both of these happened some time ago.

Texas billionaire and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has also been the subject of speculation regarding TikTok’s purchase. If TikTok were to merge with Musk’s social media platform X, Musk would gain access to large amounts of data from TikTok — which could potentially feed into his separate artificial intelligence company, xAI.

Musk is also expected to head the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) created by Trump.

On Tuesday, Trump confirmed that he would be open to Musk buying TikTok. The President spoke briefly to reporters on the subject, This is reported by Reuters.

“I’ve met with the owners of TikTok, the big owners,” Trump said. “So what I’m thinking of saying to somebody is ‘buy it and give half to the US’.”

When will TikTok return to the app store?

Users who already had the app downloaded to their devices could jump back to TikTok after the ban was reversed. But those who had not yet downloaded it or had deleted the app seem to be unable to get it back.

As of Wednesday morning, TikTok was still unavailable for download from Apple and Google’s US app stores

Android users searching for TikTok in the Google Play Store are greeted with an unclickable icon of the app logo along with a query: “Looking for TikTok?” Below that is a message that reads, “Downloads for this app have been paused due to current US legal requirements.”

Apple users are met with a similar message that reads: “TikTok and other ByteDance apps are not available in the country or region you are in.” A prompt to “learn more” takes users to a support page with additional information about the availability of TikTok and other apps owned by ByteDance in the U.S. “Apple is required to follow the laws of the jurisdictions in which it operates,” it reads the announcement, referring to the law that came into effect on January 19.

Google and Apple may be waiting for additional protections before circumventing the ban, which analysts say could penalize companies for distributing the app. according to a report from Reuters. It is unclear when users will be able to download the TikTok app again.

Is TikTok getting banned again?

Perhaps. Trump’s announcement only delayed the app’s ban, which Trump said had “unfortunate timing” and “interferes with my ability to assess the national security and foreign policy implications of the law’s bans before they take effect. This timing also interferes with my ability to negotiate a resolution to avoid an abrupt shutdown of the TikTok platform while addressing national security concerns.”

“I am directing the Attorney General to take no action to enforce the law for a period of 75 days from today to allow my administration to determine the appropriate course forward in an orderly manner that protects national security while avoiding a abrupt shutdown of a communications platform used by millions of Americans,” Trump’s executive order reads.

Who is the CEO of TikTok?

Singaporean business executive Shou Zi Chew is the current CEO of TikTok. He made a notable appearance at Trump’s inauguration on Monday, after praising Trump for his role in restoring TikTok to American users.

“On behalf of everyone at TikTok and all of our users across the country, I want to thank President Trump for his commitment to working with us to find a solution that keeps TikTok available in the United States.” Chew said in a video last week.

— USA TODAY contributed to this report.