Trump says newly created US sovereign wealth fund could buy TikTok

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday ordering the US Treasury and Commerce Departments to create a sovereign wealth fund and said it may purchase TikTok.

TikTok, which has about 170 million American users, was briefly taken offline just before a law requiring its Chinese owner ByteDance to either sell it on national security grounds or face a ban took effect on Jan 19.

Trump, after taking office on Jan 20, signed an executive order seeking to delay by 75 days the enforcement of the law.

Trump has said that he was in talks with multiple people over TikTok’s purchase and would likely have a decision on the popular app’s future in February.

Trump admin moves to terminate deportation relief

Meanwhile, US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem moved to terminate deportation relief for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans in the US, part of President Donald Trump’s expanding immigration crackdown.

The decision means about 348,000 Venezuelans with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) will lose deportation relief and access to work permits by April, according to a related government notice, which said conditions in Venezuela no longer warranted the protections and that they were contrary to US interests.

Trump, a Republican, took office on Jan. 20 vowing to crack down on illegal immigration and humanitarian programs he says go beyond the intent of US law. Trump tried to end most TPS enrollment during his first term but was stymied by federal courts.

TPS is available to people whose home country has experienced a natural disaster, armed conflict or other extraordinary event.

Biden, a Democrat, greatly expanded the program and it now covers more than 1 million people from 17 nations. Many of those migrants – including some in the US for decades – could be vulnerable to immediate deportation if they lose the status.

Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans arrived in the US during Biden’s presidency, many vialegal humanitarian pathways, and deporting them has been challenging due to frosty US-Venezuela relations. On Saturday, Trump said Venezuela had agreed to accept all deportees, but provided few details.

Last week, Noem rolled back an 18-month extension of TPS for Venezuelans by her predecessor, Alejandro Mayorkas, saying the Trump administration did not want to be bound by the Biden-era determination.

About 300,000 additional Venezuelans have TPS protections that expire in September and were not affected by Monday’s decision.

DHS said in the termination notice that while some challenging conditions remain in Venezuela, “there are notable improvements in several areas such as the economy, public health, and crime that allow for these nationals to be safely returned to their home country.”

The termination will be effective 60 days after publication in the Federal Register, the notice said.