How Trump resurrected TikTok
Post Reports
The Washington Post
4.4 • 5.1K Ratings
🗓️ 21 January 2025
⏱️ 26 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
It’s not over for TikTok. Or is it? Today on “Post Reports,” why the app went dark in the United States, how it came back and who controls its fate.
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Last week, the Supreme Court upheld a federal law banning TikTok in the United States unless its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, sold to an American buyer.
On Sunday, the popular video-sharing app went dark, only to come back later that night. And on Monday, Trump signed an executive order to halt the ban.
Today on “Post Reports,” tech reporter Drew Harwell digs into the national security arguments that swayed the court’s decision, why Trump’s opinion on the app has flip-flopped and why users of the platform might still feel like they’re in purgatory.
And, we hear from Dave Jorgenson, the face of The Washington Post’s TikTok team, about how TikTok users are feeling amid the turmoil.
Today’s show was produced by Rennie Svirnovskiy and Bishop Sand. It was mixed by Sam Bair and edited by Lucy Perkins and Monica Campbell. Thanks also to Alexis Fitts.
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Check out a live podcast taping that will be hosted by Martine on Jan. 25 about the enduring legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey guys, Martine here. Before we start today's show, I want to tell you about an upcoming event I'll be doing here in D.C. |
| 0:09.5 | It's a live podcast taping at the Apple Carnegie Library, focused on the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. |
| 0:16.8 | I'll be talking with Ryan Williams from the D.C. Public Library, both about Dr. King himself, |
| 0:22.6 | but also about the role of libraries in this moment when what you read can be seen as a political act, |
| 0:29.5 | and the role of technology in activism and social change. It's going to be a great conversation. |
| 0:36.3 | This event will be taking place at 2 p.m. on Saturday, January 25th, so if you're in D.C. |
| 0:41.9 | And you want to join us, you should sign up in advance. |
| 0:44.5 | We'll put a link in today's show notes and at postreports.com. |
| 0:48.7 | All right, here's today's show. |
| 0:51.6 | So, Dave, how are you doing right now? |
| 0:58.4 | You know, I'm doing pretty well. It's been a whirlwind of the last few weeks. I'm Dave Jorgensen, and I am known as the Washington Post Tick Tic Tic Tic. Tye. |
| 1:06.6 | I'm Dave Jorgensen and I'm known as the Washington Post Tick Tick. I can't say Tick. Keep all of this. You have to keep all this. Why are you so bad at this, consider this? I'm Dave Jorgensen and I'm known as the Washington Post TikTok. I can't say TikTok. |
| 1:12.0 | Keep all of this. |
| 1:14.4 | Why are you so bad at this, consider this? |
| 1:17.6 | I'm Dave Jorgensen and I'm known as the Washington Post TikTok guy, which means I produce a TikTok every day at the Washington Post. |
| 1:24.4 | Dave Jorgensen has posted over 3,000 times to the app. |
| 1:29.2 | Last week, he thought he might be done doing that |
| 1:32.3 | because the Supreme Court had upheld a law passed by Congress |
| 1:35.8 | to ban TikTok or to force it to divest from its Chinese parent company by dance. |
| 1:41.4 | And so Dave, like he always does, made a TikTok about the moment. |
| 1:46.0 | I knew I would regret it if I wasn't fully covering this up until the last moment. |
| 1:50.1 | There was even we had a, it was what we call a group talk, meaning it was multiple members on |
... |
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