by Manuel Scheuernstuhl – 01/25/25

Washington DC: On Trump’s Inauguration Day, Jan 20, 2025, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew was spotted at a Washington DC Starbucks around 2 p.m., right after he attended Trump’s Inauguration at noon, next to multiple other Tech CEOs. Guided by two security guards into the Starbucks, he took selfies with staff members, teenagers, and people in MAGA merch. After asking him if Elon Musk would buy TikTok, he started giggling.

His appearance in DC comes after TikTok faced a brief nationwide ban in the US on Jan 18, returning a day later with the message, „As a result of President Trump’s efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S.“ On Monday night, a couple of hours after Shou Zi Chew showed up in Starbucks, Trump signed an executive order to delay the ban by 75 days, granting TikTok time to comply with the law – if they sell it to an American company. When asked if Trump was „open“ to Elon Musk buying Tiktok, he said on Tuesday, „I would be if he wanted to buy it.“ Larry Ellison, co-founder of Oracle, is also considered as one of the potential buyers.

Correction: Elon Musk did not say he wanted to buy TikTok, as I said in the video. However, Bloomberg reported, based on anonymous sources, that Chinese officials are considering selling the TikTok business in the United States to Musk. Instead, he posted the following on X: „(…)the current situation where TikTok is allowed to operate in America, but X is not allowed to operate in China is unbalanced. Something needs to change.“