President-elect Donald Trump met with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew on Monday, following the company’s request for the U.S. Supreme Court to block a law that could lead to a nationwide ban of the platform next month, according to multiple reports.
Chew, who had been working to arrange a meeting with Trump since his election victory, had also visited Trump’s Florida estate in early December.
Details of their discussion remain unclear.
The meeting occurred shortly after TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, asked the Supreme Court to intervene in a federal law that would ban the platform unless ByteDance sells its stake in it by January 19.
TikTok has warned that the potential ban could result in significant losses, with small businesses losing $1 billion in revenue and creators facing $300 million in earnings losses within just a month. With a reported 170 million U.S. users, TikTok has requested the Supreme Court make a decision by January 6, as the company would need time to shut down the platform in the U.S. if their request is denied.
Last week, a federal appeals court rejected TikTok’s request to block the law’s enforcement while the Supreme Court reviews the case, upholding the law signed by President Joe Biden in April.
Trump, set to take office on January 20, has not yet indicated what actions he might take to prevent the law from taking effect.
During a press conference earlier on Monday, Trump expressed his fondness for TikTok, noting its potential role in his election success. “I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok because I won youth by 34 points and there are those that say that TikTok has something to do with that.”
Despite his statement, early exit polls indicated Vice President Kamala Harris won the majority of voters under 30.
Although Trump previously attempted to ban TikTok at the end of his first term, he has since criticized the app’s potential ban during his campaign.
In addition to Chew, Trump has met with other notable executives, including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and is reportedly planning meetings with Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos at Mar-a-Lago this week.
