PALO ALTO, U.S./HONG KONG -- U.S. President Donald Trump has issued executive orders to ban U.S. transactions with WeChat, the messaging app owned by Tencent Holdings, and ByteDance, owner of TikTok, within 45 days, describing the Chinese-owned companies as threats to national security.
"The spread in the United States of mobile applications developed and owned by companies in the People's Republic of China . . . continues to threaten the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States," said Trump in the two executive orders signed on Thursday.