Trump’s TikTok Reversal Poses Threats to Both US Security and His Legacy

Donald Trump has established a bipartisan agreement that rightly views the People’s Republic of China as an antagonist that requires confrontation, not leniency.

When Trump made his entry down the golden escalator in 2015, the Chinese Communist Party was still reaping the benefits from the United States’ inability to recognize its oppressive regime — alongside the naive American belief that integrating the PRC into the global fabric would lead to ideological moderation.

Trump pierced through this facade, secured the presidency, and subsequently enlightened the broader political landscape.

For that, Americans owe him a profound debt of gratitude.

However, having nearly crossed the finish line, he now appears to contemplate stepping back.

Last year, President Biden enacted legislation that would prohibit the popular social media app TikTok in the U.S. unless it is sold by its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, by January 19.

In an unexpected turn, Trump has not only expressed a “warm spot” in his heart for this digital tool, but has also filed a legal brief urging the Supreme Court to block the ban, ahead of a hearing scheduled for Friday.

“We did go on TikTok and we had a great response, we had billions of views,” Trump claimed last month.

“Maybe we ought to keep this around for a little while.”

On the contrary, Mr. President-elect, that application should be eliminated.

This week, The Wall Street Journal highlighted the reasoning, reporting that Chinese hackers have infiltrated U.S. infrastructure and telecommunications ahead of a potential military confrontation — likely concerning Taiwan.

Brandon Wales, former executive director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, told the Journal that these infiltrations were “designed to ensure they prevail by inhibiting U.S. power projection and creating chaos at home” in the event of such a conflict.

This serves as proof that Trump was right all along: The PRC is a malicious force intent on supplanting America as the leading global power.

TikTok is one of its insidious instruments.

Bound by Chinese law, ByteDance can be — and likely has been — forced to surrender user data to the CCP with little notice.

As former Rep. Mike Gallagher and incoming Secretary of State Marco Rubio have noted, the ties between the PRC and ByteDance are more than mere speculation.

ByteDance has been caught utilizing TikTok to surveil journalists and protesters’ locations.

Many high-ranking executives at the company have ties to Chinese state media.

Additionally, it features an internal CCP Committee overseen by Zhang Fuping, vice president and editor-in-chief of its Chinese division, who advocates for the app’s algorithm to adhere to the “correct political direction.”

All available evidence suggests that his directive has been followed.

TikTok not only accelerates a continuous flow of blatant CCP propaganda — it also promotes Chinese interests globally.

The application exhibits a clear bias against Ukraine and Israel, two American allies engaged in defensive conflicts against Russia and Iran’s terrorist proxies — components of a growing, PRC-led axis of evil.

A recent study from Rutgers University’s Network Contagion Research Institute indicated that while Instagram and YouTube searches regarding the Uyghurs and Tiananmen Square resulted in predominantly negative content about the PRC, TikTok yielded the opposite effect.

Joel Finkelstein, Director and Chief Science Officer at NCRI, described TikTok’s operations as “massive indoctrination.”

Thus, the argument surrounding TikTok encompasses whether to permit the United States’ primary geopolitical rival — a notoriously tyrannical regime perpetrating genocide domestically and inciting chaos abroad — to continue gathering intelligence and disseminating propaganda to 170 million Americans.

This matter is so glaringly obvious that even our ineffective, gridlocked Congress recognized its importance and acted upon it.

Biden rightfully deserves praise for enacting the TikTok ban, just as Trump should be honored for altering the national discourse on China in the first place.

However, by defending TikTok now, Trump risks undermining one of his most significant achievements — and inflicting considerable damage to his legacy as a steadfast champion of U.S. interests.

History will be as forgiving to those advocating for TikTok as it has been to those who previously endorsed the pre-Trump conventional wisdom on the PRC.

The platform may have benefited the president-elect during his campaigning, but it remains a Trojan horse.

One that must be destroyed outside the city’s walls, rather than celebrated within them.

Isaac Schorr is a staff writer at Mediaite.