The ban on TikTok in the US lasted for a while, with President-elect Donald Trump saying he would restore the app’s access to the country once he returns to power on Monday.

“Honestly, we have no choice. We have to save it,” Trump said at a rally on Sunday before his inauguration, adding that the US would seek a consortium to restore the app used by 170 million Americans.

In a message to users hours before the rally, TikTok said: “As a result of President Trump’s efforts, TikTok is back in the US”.

As of Sunday night, the app remained unavailable for download on US play stores. “In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service”TikTok said in the previous statement thanking Trump for the “providing much-needed clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will not face penalties for providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and enabling over 7 million small businesses to thrive.”

TikTok’s public thanks to Trump, a day before he takes office, comes at a tense time in US-China relations.

Trump has repeatedly said that plans to impose tariffs on Chinawhile at the same time he has stated that he hopes to have a more direct contact with the country’s leader.

The Chinese embassy in Washington on Friday accused the US of using unlawful state power to suppress TikTok. “China will take all necessary measures to resolutely safeguard its legitimate rights and interests”a spokesman said.

The chronicle

The popular app stopped working for US users late Saturday, before a law shutting it down on national security grounds went into effect on Sunday.

US officials had warned that under Chinese parent company ByteDance, there was a risk of misuse of the data of Americans.

Trump, in turn, made it clear that he would “extends the time before the law’s bans go into effect so we can make a deal to protect our national security. I would like the United States to have a 50% ownership position in a consortium,” wrote on Truth Social.

Trump pointed out that the executive order would clarify that there would be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before his order.

The US president had earlier said he would likely give TikTok a 90-day reprieve from the ban after taking office, a promise TikTok cited in a notice posted to users of the app:

“A law banning TikTok has gone into effect in the US. Unfortunately, this means you can’t use TikTok for now. We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to bring TikTok back once he takes office. Please stay tuned,” it read the message informing users of the app trying to enter the platform, which also disappeared from the Apple and Google Stores.

In August 2020, Trump signed an executive order giving ByteDance 90 days to sell TikTok, but then approved a corporate deal involving both Oracle ( ORCL.N ) and Walmart ( WMT.N ), would get shares in the new company. Not everyone in Trump’s Republican Party agreed with the efforts to bypass the law and save TikTok.

Republican Senators Tom Cotton and Pete Ricketts said in a joint statement: “Now that the law has come into effect, there is no legal basis for any kind of ‘extension’ of its effective date. For TikTok to come back online in the future, ByteDance must agree to a sale that meets the law’s special divestiture requirements, severing all ties between TikTok and Communist China.”

It is noted that the US has never banned a major social networking platform in the past.

The law passed overwhelmingly by Congress gives the incoming Trump administration broad powers to ban or seek the sale of other Chinese-owned apps.

Other apps owned by ByteDance, including video editing app CapCut and social lifestyle app Lemon8was also down and unavailable in US app stores as of late Saturday.

Minutes after TikTok was banned, online searches for “VPN” skyrocketed in the US, according to Google Trends.

Meanwhile, users on Instagram worried whether they would still receive services they had purchased on the TikTok Shop, the platform’s e-commerce arm, while marketing companies dependent on TikTok rushed to prepare contingency plans.

Meanwhile, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew plans to attend the US president’s inauguration and participate in a rally with Trump on Sunday, a source told Reuters.

Who wants a stake in TikTok?

Suitors, including former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, have expressed interest in the fast-growing business that analysts estimate could be worth as much as $50 billion.

Media reports say Beijing has also held talks on the sale of TikTok’s US operations to the billionaire and Trump ally, Elon Muskalthough the company has denied this.

American search engine start-up Perplexity AI on Saturday submitted an offer to ByteDance for its merger Perplexity with TikTok US, a source familiar with the company’s plans told Reuters.

Perplexity will merge with TikTok US and create a new entity by combining the merged company with other partners, the person added.