Trump to meet TikTok CEO amid ban deadline for social media app

President-elect Donald Trump will meet with the CEO of  TikTok, Shou Zi Chew, as the Chinese company faces a nationwide ban in the U.S.

The meeting would be about the recent court order demanding that the social media giant be sold by its Chinese parent company ByteDance before 19 January or stop its operations in the country.

However, in a press conference on Monday, Mr Trump said his administration would “take a look at TikTok”, acknowledging the social media company’s impact during the November U.S. presidential election.

“I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok because I won youth by 34 points. There are those that say that TikTok has something to do with that. TikTok had an impact,” Mr Trump stated.

Meanwhile, on Monday, the social media company wrote to the Supreme Court requesting that the ban be delayed to give it room to review the development and allow Mr Trump’s administration to look into the matter.

In its filing, the company insisted TikTok is “one of the most significant speech platforms” in the U.S., adding the ban would do ”immediate irreparable harm” to the company and its teeming users.

The law banning the social media platform in the U.S. was inspired by the alleged connections between ByteDance and the Chinese government, which the U.S. considers a significant threat to its national security.