President Trump’s blunt message after a whirlwind week of executive orders and presidential proclamations may boil down to this: Take me at my word. During four years in political exile after his first term, Mr. Trump vowed to radically reshape American life, culture and politics if he got another chance. His first week has demonstrated … Read more
As far as first salvos go, President Donald J. Trump’s threat of a 10 percent tariff on Chinese goods in retaliation for China’s role in America’s fentanyl crisis could be interpreted in Beijing as encouraging. Not only is it lower than the 60 percent duties Mr. Trump had said he would impose on key Chinese … Read more
TikTok got an apparent reprieve from being forced to shut down, but Americans on Monday were still using and downloading Xiaohongshu, the Chinese social media app that surged in popularity last week in anticipation of TikTok’s closure. TikTok, owned by the Chinese internet company ByteDance, went dark in the United States ahead of a federal … Read more
The Chinese social media app RedNote is full of cute, heartwarming moments after about 500,000 American users fled to it last week to protest the looming U.S. government ban on TikTok. Calling themselves “TikTok refugees,” these users paid the “cat tax” to join RedNote by posting cat photos and videos. They answered so many questions … Read more
When TikTok pulled down its services early Sunday, it added a politically attuned notice for disappointed users: “We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office.” TikTok may have over 170 million devotees in the United States, but for these … Read more
A man was arrested in connection with a fire set early on Sunday in response to “recent talks” of banning the popular video app TikTok, the authorities said. The fire was at a strip mall that includes a district office of a Wisconsin congressman who has been critical of the app. The man, 19, who … Read more
Putting aside that argument, there are certainly some diplomatic opportunities Mr. Trump can seize, though history and ominous recent warnings suggest that he may soften up his adversaries and his allies with threats of military action if he doesn’t get what he wants. (See: Iran, Greenland, Panama.) Here is a scorecard to keep handy in … Read more