Trump makes quiet U-turn on the use of TikTok on government phones in dramatic shift

By BREANNE DEPPISCH, US SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER Published: 23:05, 20 July 2026 | Updated: 23:10, 20 July 2026 Federal government employees are permitted download the app TikTok on their government devices, the Justice Department said in a new memo - an abrupt shift in policy that more closely hews to President Donald Trump's favorable view of the app. The memo, authored by DOJ's Office of Legal Counsel, effectively nullifies a law Congress passed in 2022 that seeks to protect against data sharing with TikTok and its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, due to myriad national security and privacy concerns.  It comes after TikTok in January announced a new joint venture made up of 80 percent American investors - though 19.9 percent of the US venture is still controlled by ByteDance. The memo concludes that TikTok's new, restructured US venture does not pose the same risks as the previous version of the Chinese-owned app, despite language in the 2022 bill that barred the use of 'any successor application or service developed or provided by ByteDance Limited or an entity owned by ByteDance Limited' on government devices.   'Congress banned only the version of TikTok that shares the same problematic ownership features' as the original, Chinese-owned version, the OLC said.  'We understand you have since instructed that ​employees of Executive Branch agencies may download TikTok onto their official devices, subject ​to the agency’s discretion and consistent with all applicable workplace policies,' the Office of Legal Counsel said in its memorandum opinion, addressed to counsel for President Donald Trump.  A giant portrait of President Donald Trump looks down from the Justice Department in Washington, DC Trump speaks to reporters in the Oval Office Trump and then-Attorney General, Pam Bondi, are seen at an event in the Oval Office The TikTok logo is shown on a phone screen in front of a US flag. The Justice Department issued new guidance that allows federal employees to use TikTok on their government devices  The OLC memo comes after Congress again attempted to more harshly crack down on TikTok's US operation in 2024. Lawmakers passed a second bill that sought to ban TikTok from operating in the US barring full divestiture to an American owner, prompting the company to appeal the matter to the Supreme Court.  The high court sided with Congress. But one day after Trump was sworn back into office in January 2025, he directed the Justice Department not to enforce the law. TikTok's new US joint venture has prompted criticism from some lawmakers, including Republicans, who say it is still far too favorable to ByteDance's conditions - and note that it is built on a ByteDance-licensed algorithm.  'The Chinese Communist Party cannot be allowed to weaponize an app to divide and weaken our country,' Congressman John Moolenaar, who heads up the House Select Committee on China, said in a statement in January, released shortly after TikTok shared its new US venture.   It also prompted a new lawsuit from Meta and Alphabet investors, who argued in their complaint that the restructured US venture does not go far enough in reducing ByteDance's influence. 'Does this deal ensure China does not have influence over the algorithm? Can the parties involved assure Americans their data is secure?' Moolenaar continued, adding: 'Those are questions that need to be answered as the Select Committee does oversight of this deal.'