Trump orders sovereign wealth fund that could invest in TikTok
A new executive order from President Trump may open a way to remove the U.S. operations of TikTok from Chinese control.
The executive order from the White House dated Feb. 3, 2025 mandates the federal government to establish a sovereign wealth fund, which uses government assets to invest in global markets, companies, real estate and private equity.
According to the order, the fund is intended to "promote fiscal sustainability, lessen the burden of taxes on American families and small businesses, establish economic security for future generations, and promote United States economic and strategic leadership internationally."
As reported by CNBC, Trump has also indicated the fund could be used for the U.S. government to purchase a partial or whole stake in the U.S. business of the TikTok short-form video app, which is currently operating here after the president temporarily repealed a ban on it for a 75-day review period which began Jan. 20, 2025.
This action followed a 9-0 ruling released Friday, Jan. 17, 2025 by the U.S. Supreme Court saying the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act would go into effect as scheduled on Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025, making it unlawful for U.S. companies to distribute, maintain, or update TikTok unless U. S. operation of the Chinese-owned platform is severed from Chinese control.
In response to that ruling, the TikTok app briefly went dark in the U.S. during the weekend of Jan. 18-19.
The act includes language which allows the president to pause enforcement for as long as 90 days after it takes effect to pursue negotiations or alternate solutions to avoid permanently banning TikTok in the U.S.
TikTok receives government scrutiny - a brief history
The Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act was passed in April 2024 in response to longstanding concerns over possible ties between its China-based parent company ByteDance and the Chinese Communist Party and possible risks to U.S. user privacy (ByteDance and TikTok have publicly denied the validity of these concerns).
[READ MORE: Biden signs potential U.S. TikTok ban into law]
In a Jan. 17 post on his Truth Social social media network, Trump said he had a phone call with Chairman Xi Jinping of China that included discussion about TikTok.
Although Trump and members of his cabinet publicly called for TikTok to divest its U.S. business or face a possible ban during his first term in 2020, he has publicly softened his position since then. In a March 2024 CNBC interview, Trump said a U.S. TikTok ban would just serve to make Facebook parent Meta bigger and called Facebook an "enemy of the people."
TikTok operates an e-commerce store in the U.S., partners with numerous U.S. retailers, and was ranked the second-most-used social platform by American teens by the Pew Research Center.
According to recent data from Numerator, 36% of surveyed TikTok users said they did not believe the ban would stay enforced, 28% believed the Trump administration would reverse the ban, and only 11% said the ban made sense. More than half (53%) said they would be somewhat/very upset if the ban is enacted.
Editor’s Note: Chain Store Age will continue covering developments in TikTok’s U.S. operations.