US President Donald Trump said he would be open to Elon Musk buying social media app TikTok.
The world leader, 78, described TikTok as “worthless” without a permit, which he insists the US will be able to provide – at a cost. Speaking at a press conference today at the White House, Trump said: “It’s worthless if it doesn’t get a permit. The whole thing is worthless.
“With a permit, it is worth like a trillion dollars. So what I’m thinking about saying to somebody is ‘buy it, and give half to the United States of America, half and we will give you the permit’. They’ll have a great partner in the United States, and they’ll have something that is actually more valuable because they’ll have the ultimate partner and the United States will make it worthwhile for them in terms of the permit and everything else.”
Footage of the exchange has been shared widely on social media, which remains a hotbed of discussion about Trump since his inauguration on Monday. He began his presidency with a dizzying display of force, signing a blizzard of executive orders, including one pardoning nearly all of his supporters who rioted at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
It’s unclear whether he’ll pardon all 1,600 people prosecuted or imprisoned over the attempted coup, or just the 900 or so that were charged with non-violent misdemeanour offences like trespass. But he said he’d be signing pardons for “a lot of people” and he would be freeing “the J6 Hostages today.”
During his speech he invited relatives of Israeli hostages up onto stage. He continued to refer to the insurrectionists as “hostages” as they stood solemnly behind him.
And in a chilling piece of theatre for the baying crowd at Capital One Arena, he signed a series of controversial Executive Orders live on stage. First in the initial raft of orders was one that will revoke 78 of Joe Biden’s executive orders and actions. The crowd whooped and cheered as he signed his name to the document.
Others will implement a “regulation freeze” a “hiring freeze for the IRS”, and cancel work-from-home rights for government staff. He also signed the withdrawal of the Paris Climate Treaty, meaning America joins Libya, Iran and Yemen as the only countries not to ratify the deal.
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