WASHINGTON, Aug 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) — President Donald Trump defended his demand for the US government to get a piece of the action to let Microsoft or any other company here buy popular China-based social media app TikTok.
Trump’s stance was slammed by critics who said it appears unconstitutional and akin to extortion.
“We have all the cards, because without us, you can’t come into the United States,” Trump said during a White House press briefing.
“If you’re a landlord, you have a tenant, the tenant’s business needs rent, it needs a lease.”
Trump maintained that a large share of any TikTok purchase price should go to the US treasury, and that Microsoft “agreed with me very much.”
Microsoft did not immediately return a request for comment.
Trump on Monday said he was prepared to approve a deal selling TikTok assets to Microsoft or another US company after warning of a national security ban, but maintained that he would ask for “a substantial portion” of any transaction to come into the Treasury.
Trump lacks authority for this demand, critics said, adding that if carried out it would be bad for business and international relations.
“Those are the sort of mafia tactics you might see in Russia,” said James Lewis, director of technology policy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
“It’s not a good policy practice. I don’t think it’s constitutional.”
Bobby Chesney, a University of Texas law professor specializing in national security and constitutional issues, said Trump’s suggestion “is grossly inappropriate and unbecoming, not to mention having no basis in law.”
Former federal prosecutor Michael Bromwich said on Twitter that Trump’s demands sounded like racketeering, referring to the law known as the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations act (RICO).
“This is becoming a more overt RICO enterprise with each passing day,” he wrote in response to Trump’s comments.
Used by as many as a billion people worldwide to make quirky short-form videos on their cellphones, TikTok is the latest front in the ongoing political and trade battles between Washington and Beijing.
The United States maintains that TikTok collects users’ personal data that the Chinese government can access and make use of for intelligence and other purposes. TikTok denies its user data goes to the Chinese government. — NNN-AGENCIES