Decision on TikTok within weeks, not months: White House

Decision on TikTok within weeks, not months: White House

Washington: The White House indicated on Wednesday that a decision on Chinese mobile applications, including TikTok, could be taken within weeks and not months.

“I do not think there is any self-imposed deadline for action, but I think we are looking at weeks, not months,” White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows told reporters aboard Air Force One, flying with President Donald Trump form Atlanta.

“There are a number of administration officials who are looking at the national security risk as it relates to TikTok, WeChat and other apps that have the potential for national security exposure, specifically as it relates to the gathering of information on American citizens by a foreign adversary,” Meadows said.

The move to ban TikTok in the US has suddenly gained momentum after India”s decision in this regard last month.

“They (Indians) made the decision that they were going to pull 50 or so Chinese applications off the systems that were operating inside India. They did not do that because the United States told them to. They did it because they could see the threat to the Indian people from the Chinese Communist Party,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told the Economic Club of New York in a virtual exchange.

The US, he said, has been working closely with the Indians across a broad spectrum of the full range of international partnership with them to assist them in making sure that they have all the information they need to make good decisions.

Early this month, Pompeo had said the US may ban TikTok.

“I made a comment about TikTok. But we got to go back to principles first. The mission set is to protect American national security. And in this case, the information of American citizens,” he told The Hill newspaper in an interview.

“So, whether it is TikTok or any of the other Chinese communications platforms, apps, infrastructure — this administration has taken seriously the requirement to protect the American people from having their information end up in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party,” Pompeo said.

According to Pompeo, the Trump administration is working through a process where all the relevant agencies and the private sector are getting to say their piece. “We hope to have a set of decisions shortly, which will reflect that central understanding,” he said.

“We have been working on ZTE, we have been working on Huawei. We are pleased to see the United Kingdom make its announcement that it is going to pull out Huawei technology from its telecom infrastructure. We watched telecom companies all across the world from Orange and others to say no, we understand,” Pompeo said.

“We want to make sure that our data flows only across trusted vendors. That is the mission set and that is certainly the mission set when it comes to applications that our kids may be touching,” he added.

In a related development, the US House Committee on Appropriations on Wednesday passed a number of provisions, authored by Congressman Tom Graves, to crack down on foreign entities and state-owned enterprises that seek to steal data and personal information from American citizens.

“Today”s language was authored amidst ongoing discussions about the potential threats posed to the US from companies like Huawei and TikTok,” Graves said.

“While taking steps to protect our networks, we also need to make sure that the apps and platforms we download on our personal devices do not have ties to foreign governments with a history of bad actions,” the Congressman said.

COVID-19: Trump thinks in-person G7 summit would be great example of reopening, says WH

COVID-19: Trump thinks in-person G7 summit would be great example of reopening, says WH

Washington: US President Donald Trump believes that there is “no greater example” of reopening amid the COVID-19 pandemic than holding an in-person G7 summit in America near the end of June, the White House has said.

G7 is the group of top seven developed economies. These include the US, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Canada.

The US currently holds the annual presidency of G7 countries. In view of coronavirus pandemic there were talks of the summit being held virtually.

However, Trump for the past one week, has been suggesting that it be held in person at Camp David.

“The President wants to see this (G7) take place,” White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters on Tuesday during a news conference here.

“As America reopens, as we try to approach a place of normalcy where people go back to work, where people do recreational activities but socially distant while they do it, the President thinks no greater example of reopening in this transition to greatness would be the G7, and G7 happening here and happening probably more towards the end of June,” McEnany said.

She said National Security Advisor Robert O”Brien has been getting a great reception from world leaders who are asked about attending the summit.

“We will protect world leaders who come here, just like we protect people in the White House. So, we want to see it happen. We think it will happen. So far, foreign leaders are very much on board with the idea,” said the White House Press Secretary in response to a question.

But, there has been no fixed date for it as yet.

“I don”t know if it will be the last week of June, but towards the end of June. And the goal for it is for it to be here at the White House,” McEnany said.

Originally, Trump wanted to hold the G7 at his club in the Miami area, as announced by then-acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney in a press conference last fall, but it was subsequently moved to Camp David in June amid public pressure.

The coronavirus pandemic then resulted in another change of venue — to a virtual summit. But the president announced on Twitter on Wednesday that he had changed his mind.

“Now that our Country is ”Transitioning back to Greatness”, I am considering rescheduling the G-7, on the same or similar date, in Washington, D.C., at the legendary Camp David. The other members are also beginning their COMEBACK. It would be a great sign to all – normalization!” Trump tweeted.

Most G7 members were noncommittal about the prospect of an in-person summit, according to a media report.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau agreed world leaders need to meet, but did not commit to attending in person, it said.

White House briefly “follows” twitter accounts of host country during Prez visit: Official

White House briefly “follows” twitter accounts of host country during Prez visit: Official

Washington: The White House Wednesday explained that its Twitter handle typically ‘follows’ the accounts of officials from host countries for a brief period during a presidential trip to retweet their messages in support of the visit.

During President Donald Trump’s visit to India in the last week of February, the official Twitter handle of the White House @WhiteHouse  had started ‘following’ the accounts of President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister’s office, the Indian Embassy in the US, the US Embassy in India and the US Ambassador to India, Ken Juster.

Early this week, the White House ‘unfollowed’ all these six Twitter handles.

“The White House Twitter account normally follows senior US government Twitter accounts, and others as appropriate. For example, during the time of a presidential visit, the account typically follows for a short time, the host country’s officials to retweet their messages in support of the visit,” a senior administration official told PTI on the condition of anonymity.

The official was responding to a question on the reasons for the White House ‘following’ and then ‘unfollowing’ the Twitter handles of President Kovind, PM Modi, the PMO, and other Indian officials.

The White House ‘unfollowing’ the Twitter accounts of President Kovind and PM Modi drew reactions on social media in India.

Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said he was “dismayed” at the development.

“I’m dismayed by the “unfollowing” of our President & PM by the White House. I urge the Ministry of External Affairs to take note,” he said in a tweet on Wednesday.

As of Wednesday, the White House had 22 million followers. It has traditionally ben following 13 accounts including that of President Donald Trump and his official Twitter handle, the First Lady, the Vice President, the Second Lady, the new Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, the National Security Council and the former White House Press Secretary, Stephanie Grisham, among others.