Steve Bannon, a former top adviser to Donald Trump, has suggested that the former president may have been paid off after a change in stance on TikTok.

Donald Trump Now Opposes Banning TikTok in the US

Donald Trump has headed the original threat to ban TikTok over national security concerns. However, on Thursday, the former president said in a Truth Social post that he opposed the bill that could potentially block the China-linked app in the US. 

A bipartisan panel of lawmakers unanimously approved the controversial bill on Thursday. Lawmakers on the Energy and Commerce Committee voted 50-0 to advance the bill, setting it up for a possible full vote soon.

Under the proposed legislation, TikTok would be required to cut ties with its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, within six months or face being banned from apps and web hosting sites across the US.

However, in his post, Trump expressed opposition to the bill by saying: "If you get rid of TikTok, Facebook and Zuckerschmuck [CEO Mark Zuckerberg] will double their business. I don't want Facebook, who cheated in the last Election, doing better. They are a true Enemy of the People!"

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Steve Bannon Believes Donald Trump Has Been Bought to Change Stance on TikTok

According to Newsweek, the reports following this post noted that Donald Trump's shift in stance appeared to have come after a meeting with Jeff Yass, a major Republican donor who has a $33 billion stake in TikTok. Intelligencer reported that the billionaire allegedly threatened to pull support from Republican lawmakers who backed the bipartisan bill.

Steve Bannon, known for his pivotal role in Trump's successful 2016 presidential campaign and as a White House adviser for the first few months of Trump's presidency, took to Gettr on Saturday to voice his opinion.

In his post, Bannon said: "Simple: Yass Coin," as he shared a link to an Axios story about Trump's flip on TikTok.

In August 2020, the former president issued an executive order directing ByteDance to sell its US assets and destroy all data within 90 days. After a month, TikTok requested a preliminary injunction to prevent the Trump administration from banning the China-linked app, which a federal judge approved.

Trump left office in January 2021, and in June of the same year, President Joe Biden signed an executive order revoking the Trump administration's ban on TikTok and instead ordered the Department of Commerce to investigate the app to determine if it poses a threat to national security.

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