DOJ urges Supreme Court to reject Trump request to delay TikTok ban law

4/1/2025 12:50

The U.S. Department of Justice asked the Supreme Court late on Friday to reject President-elect Donald Trump's request to delay implementation of a law that would ban popular social media app TikTok or force its sale by Jan. 19.



Last week, Trump filed a legal brief arguing he should have time after taking office on Jan. 20 to pursue a "political resolution" to the issue. The court is set to hear arguments in the case on Jan. 10.



The law, passed in April, requires TikTok's Chinese owner, ByteDance, to divest the platform's U.S. assets or face a ban.



The DOJ said in its filing that Trump's request could only be granted if ByteDance had established it was likely to succeed on the merits but the company had not done so.



DOJ said not no one disputes China "seeks to undermine U.S. interests by amassing sensitive data about Americans and engaging in covert and malign influence operations."