Trump will stop the platform going dark, says top adviser

US President-elect Donald Trump will find a way to save TikTok before a ban on the app takes effect this week, his national security adviser has said.

Congressman Mike Waltz, a Florida Republican, said Trump would intervene if the Supreme Court upheld an order banning the tower in the US unless it is sold by January 19.

Last week, the Biden administration was also looking at ways to prevent TikTok from suddenly disappearing, NBC News reported.

Chinese owner ByteDance said it plans to shut down the app to its 170 million US users by Sunday.

“We’re going to put in place a way to keep TikTok from going black,” Waltz said Thursday.

He added that the law allows for a 90-day extension for ByteDance if significant progress is made in the sale.

“That buys President Trump time for TikTok to go away,” Waltz said.

A day earlier, the incoming national security adviser wrote on Fox News that Mr. Trump is preparing an executive order to stop the ban.

However, it is not clear whether such an approach would prevent a law enacted by Congress.

The app has been banned for national security reasons, due to concerns that its data could be collected by the Chinese Communist Party.

But according to the New York Times, Mr. Trump has invited the head of TikTok, Shou Zi Chew, to attend his presidential ceremony next Monday, taking a place of honor at the event.

Trump previously asked the Supreme Court to delay the ban – which will take effect the day before he is sworn into office – so he can find a “political” solution.

Congress passed a bipartisan bill last year that gave TikTok’s owner, ByteDance, nine months to find a US-approved buyer or face a ban on the platform in the United States.

The law does not ban the use of the app, but it would require tech giants like Apple and Google to stop offering it and ban updates, which experts say could kill it over time.

President Joe Biden signed the law last April as part of a package that provided aid to Ukraine and Israel.

But NBC News reports that Mr. Biden, too, has been considering ways to save the program if the ban goes into effect.

Under the plan, he put the matter on hold, according to three people familiar with the matter who spoke to NBC.

TikTok and ByteDance deny being linked to the Chinese government. They have also banned sales.

The Supreme Court heard TikTok and Bytedance’s challenge to the law last week.

The election is expected any day.

Both Biden and Trump have changed their views on the platform.

Trump tried to ban the program during his first term in office, but said on the campaign trail this year that he would protect it.