Trump's week in review: Pres. Erdogan meeting, Tylenol warning and TikTok

4. Trump says he won't ban TikTok 

In an executive order signed Thursday, Trump announced that he wouldn't ban TikTok in the U.S.

In the order, he highlighted last year's passage of the Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which prohibits the distribution of TikTok in the U.S. as long as it remains a subsidiary of the China-based ByteDance Ltd. The president also noted the numerous executive orders he has signed since taking office, thus delaying the enforcement of the legislation and thereby allowing TikTok to remain available in the U.S. 

Trump also detailed how the legislation authorizes the president to determine whether TikTok has undergone a “qualified divestiture” by executing a “transaction that would result in the application no longer being controlled by a foreign adversary and that would preclude formerly affiliated entities from maintaining an ‘operational relationship’ with the application’s United States operations.” 

The president concluded that TikTok is working to undergo a “qualified divestiture” by adopting a framework agreement that would result in ByteDance Ltd. owning less than 20% of the application, with U.S. persons constituting a majority of owners. “The proposed divestiture would allow the millions of Americans who enjoy TikTok every day to continue using it while also protecting national security,” he stated.