by Ben Whedon
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on Tuesday ended a ban on downloading TikTok on government devices.
The social media app, formerly owned by the Chinese firm ByteDance, has long attracted scrutiny over potential security risks. President Donald Trump attempted to ban the app in his first term, but ultimately pressured ByteDance into a sale last year.
In 2025, Trump signed an executive order backing a U.S.-backed TikTok set up. “TikTok must execute a transaction that would result in the application no longer being controlled by a foreign adversary and that would preclude formerly affiliated entities from maintaining an ‘operational relationship’ with the application’s United States operations,” the executive order said.
Trump set a deal in which TikTok’s U.S. operations would be sold to an American-controlled group, while ByteDance would own around 20% of the new American setup.
“Pursuant to the Opinion of the Office of Legal Counsel issued on July 17, 2026, TikTok is no longer a “covered application” for purposes of the No TikTok on Government Devices Act,” read a memo from OMB Director Russ Vought.
The popular social media app focuses on short videos and is particularly popular with Gen Z. Some lawmakers have embraced its use to reach younger voters as well.
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Ben Whedon is a reporter for Just the News.  Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network and contributed to this story.
