Trump says he doesn’t know if he has to support the constitution
When asked at NBC’s “reports,” President Trump said, “I don’t know,” if he had to support the Constitution to implement a deportation strategy.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Donald Trump said he will extend the China-based deadline to sell U.S. assets of Tiktok, a short video app used by 170 million Americans, if the transaction is not made by June 19.
“I… I want to do that,” Trump told the NBC News program “meet the media with Kristen Welker,” in a tape-taped interview at his Mar-a-Lago Estate in Palm Beach, Florida. Trump said there is a “sweet spot” on the app after helping young voters beat the 2024 presidential election, adding that “Titktok is very interesting, but will be protected.”
Trump has already granted twice a resignation from enforcement of the tiktok ban mandated by Congress, which was originally scheduled to come into effect in January. Tiktok’s US business was based in the US, with a majority-based contract with a new company run by US investors. However, the deal was put on hold after China showed that it would not approve Trump’s announcement of sudden tariffs on Chinese products.
The Democrat senator has argued that Trump has no legal authority to extend deadlines, suggesting that the deal he is considering will not meet legal requirements.
Trump told NBC News that China is eager to reach an agreement, citing the impact that 145% tariffs on Chinese goods had on the economy. He said that while he will not drop the tariffs to bring them to the negotiation table, they could ultimately be reduced as part of a broader agreement.
“At some point, I’m going to lower them, because otherwise you can’t do business with them, and they want to do so many businesses,” Trump said.
The law required that Tiktok be suspended by January 19, unless it has completed the sale of the app’s US assets. Trump began his second term as president on January 20th and chose not to enforce it. He first extended the deadline to early April, then again until last month on June 19th.
(Reporting by Andrea Shaalal and Katharine Jackson, Editing by Mark Porter)
