https://www.americaoutloud.news/is-saving-tiktok-an-example-of-diminishing-us-foreign-power
On September 25, 2025, President Trump signed the Executive Order titled “Saving TikTok While Protecting National Security.” Section 2 of the EO stated that, under the Act, the President’s determination that a divestiture is a “qualified divestiture” must occur through an “interagency process.” Furthermore, Section 3(a) of the order states that the Attorney General shall not take any action on behalf of the United States to enforce the Act for 120 days from the date of this order. During this period, the Department of Justice shall take no action to enforce the Act or impose any penalties against any entity for any noncompliance with the Act, including for distributing, maintaining, or updating any foreign adversary-controlled applications as defined in the Act.
White House: SAVING TIKTOK WHILE PROTECTING NATIONAL SECURITY
The problem is that if the above is true, that means anyone who signs with TikTok before the 120 days is not guaranteed the protections mentioned by the members of the administration regarding the safety of this EO from potential Chinese collection actions through their company, ByteDance, which still holds a 20% interest in the venture capital that will oversee TikTok in the future. This is why, on September 19, investor confidence in ByteDance’s potential deepened, with its valuation rising, reflecting growing confidence in the country’s tech capabilities.
As the U.S. gives in to the CCP influence and allows a foreign entity to hold a 20% stake in TikTok, the Chinese CCP has been expanding its operational reach in the shadowy side of the Moon, while at the same time, on September 22, 2025, opening the world’s first China-Europe Arctic express route between China’s Ningbo-Zhoushan Port and European ports.
Despite U.S. rhetoric, the CCP has won the TikTok battle. Beyond the headlines, TikTok’s AI and data collection are powerful tools in the struggle between controlled and free worlds. The Trump administration backed down in Madrid and minimized the deal to hide that the CCP still controls key parts of TikTok, effectively handing control to a few U.S. oligarchic groups. The U.S. government and its citizens have gained nothing and lost a major battle.
Suppose the POTUS has a long-term countermeasure against the CCP and TikTok that the American people are unaware of. In that case, the administration needs to clarify the open-source aspect of the plan more clearly.
That battle is crucial in the information war the U.S. is fighting unsuccessfully against the CCP. The Trump administration further highlighted the gap between policy and rhetoric with the release of the Pentagon’s National Defense Strategy Draft, which clearly shows the reality of the U.S.’s ability and willingness to confront the CCP and support its allies. In a paper reminiscent of those from the Obama era’s “New Model of Power Relations,” the U.S. seems to be signaling a retreat from confronting Beijing’s expansionist militarism.
The U.S. now downgrades the CCP and Russia from “Pacing Threats” to secondary concerns. It fails to recognize that the hemispheric issues it lists—such as migrant invasions, cartels, and the hemispheric political crisis—are, wholly or mainly, shaped by China. The Indo-Pacific alliance that Trump emphasized during his first term has been abandoned, leaving Asian nations responsible and overshadowed by the massive militaristic Chinese Dragon. https://influence.lowyinstitute.org
But does this suggest that the U.S. has truly surrendered to the “New Model of Power Relations” introduced under the Obama administration and now seemingly fully adopted by Trump? Or is it a sign of the U.S. getting its house in order after years of being besieged by various destabilizing attacks and weakened internal security and defense systems?
Only time will tell whether this is a surrender or a prelude to a prolonged conflict with the only existential threat the U.S. has faced since 1812. On The National Security Hourwith LTC (R) Sargis Sangari on America Out Loud Talk Radio, Al Johnson returns to discuss the potential outcomes of whether saving TikTok is an example of the diminishing U.S. foreign power.