Incoming national security adviser Mike Waltz commented on the TikTok situation in a recent appearance on Fox News, calling the app "a great platform" that President-elect Donald Trump will "preserve."
Host Bret Baier began the discussion by noting that the Supreme Court had not officially ruled on TikTok parent company ByteDance's challenge to President Biden's ultimatum to sell the app or ban it from the United States. However, Biden's January 19th deadline is expected to pass.
The Post's article also pointed out that Trump is considering an executive order to prevent the ban or sale of TikTok, leading Baier to ask Waltz for his take.
Waltz replied, "If the Supreme Court comes out with a ruling in favor of the law, President Trump has been very clear: Number one, TikTok is a great platform that many Americans use and was great for his campaign and getting his message out."
However, the elephant in the room was the accusations of TikTok harvesting users' data, which Waltz said Trump would protect from China. "There are people out there who do not want the U.S. government seeing all of their data and passwords. We certainly do not want the Chinese government seeing all of their data and passwords."
Waltz emphasized that Trump is "a dealmaker" who would "create the space to put that deal in."
After all, the incoming national security adviser reiterated TikTok itself is "a fantastic platform." Still, the fact that China is "seeing the data, being able to manipulate hundreds of millions of Americans" is the issue at stake.
"We are going to find a way to preserve [TikTok] but protect people's data, and that is the deal that will be in front of us," Waltz concluded.
Update: According to the Associated Press, the Supreme Court unanimously upheld Biden's ultimatum, which will go into effect on Sunday. However, the Biden Administration has signaled it will not enforce the ban on its final full day in office.
