Washington: President-elect Donald Trump has filed a brief with the US Supreme Court requesting a delay in the enforcement of a law that could lead to the ban of TikTok unless its Chinese owner, ByteDance, divests the app by January 19, 2025, just one day before Trump is set to take office.

Citing the complexity of the case, Trump's legal team urged the court to provide additional time to address the matter. "In light of the novelty and difficulty of this case, the court should consider staying the statutory deadline to grant more breathing space to address these issues," the brief stated. Trump's team emphasized that the extension would allow his incoming administration to explore a potential political resolution.

During his first term from 2017 to 2021, Trump sought to ban TikTok on national security grounds, expressing concerns—shared by political rivals—that the Chinese government could access US users' data or manipulate the platform's content. US officials also raised alarms over the app’s popularity among young Americans, alleging that ByteDance could act under Beijing’s influence, a claim denied by both the company and the Chinese government.

Trump had previously called for TikTok to be sold to a US company, suggesting the government should receive a share of the sale price. His successor, President Joe Biden, later signed a law that maintained the push for the app's ban, citing similar security concerns.

However, Trump recently softened his stance on TikTok, advocating for competition in the social media landscape. "Now (that) I'm thinking about it, I'm for TikTok, because you need competition," he told Bloomberg. "If you don't have TikTok, you have Facebook and Instagram -- and that's, you know, that's Zuckerberg."

Trump’s criticism of Facebook, now part of Meta, comes amid ongoing tensions. Meta, alongside other platforms, banned Trump following the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol by his supporters, citing concerns that he could incite further violence. These bans were later lifted.

In the amicus curiae brief, Trump’s lawyer, John Sauer, clarified that the president-elect is not taking a stance on the case's legal merits. Instead, the request focuses on postponing the divestment deadline to allow the new administration to address the issue through political channels.

"President Trump takes no position on the underlying merits of this dispute," Sauer wrote. "He respectfully requests that the court consider staying the act's deadline for divestment of January 19, 2025, while it considers the merits of this case, thus permitting President Trump's incoming Administration the opportunity to pursue a political resolution."