Trump’s TikTok Takeover
Status
04/02/2025
With TikTok facing another divest-or-ban deadline on Saturday, there’s a flurry of last-minute activity to rescue the ByteDance-owned app. On Wednesday, The New York Times reported that Jeff Bezos’s Amazon had submitted a surprise bid to acquire the popular short-form video app. Other potential investors floated over the last several months include Oracle’s Larry Ellison, venture capitalistMarc Andreessen, and “Shark Tank” star Kevin O’Leary, who has said he’s assembling a consortium to purchase the company’s U.S. operations. And reports emerged that the administration is weighing a proposal to lease the app’s algorithm from ByteDance—a move that would leave it in Beijing-based company’s hands.
But regardless of how the situation ultimately plays out, one thing is for certain: the platform will be beholden to Donald Trump. By working to avert a ban, Trump has positioned himself as the savior of one of the most influential social platforms ever created, rescuing it from political extinction. And in return, TikTok—and whoever ends up controlling it—will have every incentive to keep Trump and his allies happy with its formidable recommendation algorithm. That could hand Trump a powerful propaganda tool: a platform with unmatched reach and influence that will be in no position to cross him. Now, as the clock ticks down, one question looms: What will he do with it?
The Republican Party, once locked in a bitter war with Big Tech over so-called censorship and bias, now exerts extraordinary influence over it. Through relentless political pressure, a great deal of performative outrage, and dishonest media campaigns, Republicans have bent the tech giants to their will. And the platforms—eager to avoid regulation or the wrath of Trump’s sizable base—have mostly chosen appeasement over confrontation.
