Trump’s latest demands in the TikTok saga reek of corporate gangsterism

The president has made the Chinese-owned app an offer it can’t refuse – and the implications are deeply troubling, writes James Moore

The US leader meets American tech workers this week (Getty)

If the clock is tick tock-ing down to the end of the Trump presidency, the Donald nonetheless seems determined to prove that he can still throw a lot of rocks, cause a lot of trouble and break a lot of things, including rule books.

This brings us neatly to TikTok, the short-form video app that’s at the centre of a very big fuss. Here’s the short-form explanation for that if, like me, you were born before the millennium: it’s wildly popular, has rapidly acquired a huge and youthful user base, and it’s owned by a company called ByteDance, which is based in China.

The Trump administration has said it is concerned that the app could put Americans’ private information in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and has signalled an intention to move against it by means of a ban. It’s worth pointing out that India, which is embroiled in its own spat with China, has already instituted one of these. A deadline of 15 September has been set by the Trump administration for the US to follow suit.