Photo Credit: TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew by Lukasz Kobus / CC by 4.0
Major tech executives including Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, and TikTok CEO Shou Chew will all be in attendance at Trump’s inauguration.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew plans to attend the presidential inauguration on January 20, having been invited to sit in a position of honor on the dais. This is where important guests such as former presidents and family members are traditionally seated. Chew will reportedly join tech CEOs Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Mark Zuckerberg on the dais, along with other tech executives at the event.
Trump’s complete turnaround in supporting TikTok stems from his belief that content about him and his campaign on the platform was integral in his success with younger people this time around. It’s a stark contrast to his first presidential term in 2020, when he tried to block the app in the US and force its Chinese parent company ByteDance to divest to an American company.
Now, the Trump administration’s embrace of TikTok could prove significant as the app stands on the brink of a US ban. Last year saw Congress pass a law that ByteDance must sell TikTok’s US operations to a US company or face a nationwide ban as of January 19, citing national security concerns.
But as that date draws nearer, and with Trump’s inauguration the day after, the platform’s biggest hope is that Trump may reverse the ban after the fact. Notably, the Supreme Court could still rule against the law in the coming days, but that seems increasingly unlikely.
The administration’s incoming national security adviser, Mike Waltz, told Fox News that Trump intends to take action to restore TikTok once back in office. “TikTok itself is a fantastic platform,” said Waltz. “I wish I could have it on my phone. The algorithm is amazing. We’re going to find a way to preserve it but protect people’s data. And that’s the deal that will be in front of us.”
Last month, Chew met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida.
