Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan

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Q Thanks, Jake. This bill gives ByteDance 270 days to sell TikTok due to those national security concerns, which could lead to a national ban. In the meantime, is it safe for President Biden’s campaign and any other political entity to be on TikTok?

MR. SULLIVAN: So, I’m going to let campaigns decide for themselves what they’re going to do.

The terms of the bill are straightforward. TikTok continues to operate as it is right now until such time as either there is divestment or the time that you’ve referred to elapses. And so, what we’re focused on right now in implementing the bill is working through that divestment in a way that is consistent with the intent of the law and consistent with the national security concerns that brought the law into force in the first place.

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Q Jake, the North Korean envoy has recently se- — sent to Iran. And considering the fact that both ballistic missiles and the Shahed drones have been sent to Ukraine to fight against the Ukrainian forces, can I get your opinion on this?

MR. SULLIVAN: Well, the President today made a comment that, you know, I’ll just repeat, which is for the six months that we were not actually passing the necessary resources for Ukraine, Putin was looking to his friends. And he was getting those drones from Iran, he was getting those missiles from North Korea, and he was getting support for the Russian defense industrial base from China.

And that is not lost on us. It’s something that we are dealing with on all three fronts. And we will continue to do that. And you’ve heard Secretary Blinken, obviously, who’s now in Beijing, speak to our concerns with respect to the PRC and its support for Russia’s defense industrial base. And we have been vocal from this podium about both North Korea and Iran, and we’ll continue to be.

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Q Thank you. Two questions. One on Iran. Part of the deal that was signed by the President today had a collection of sanctions on Iran, on the Islamic Republic — namely, human rights, drones, their dealings with China, the oil export. What is the administration trying to achieve with this set of sanctions that has not already achieved in the past three years?

And my second question is about this National Security Memorandum 20, which is an independent task which they called the suspen- — for the suspension of the U.S. arms transfer to Israel because they are accusing Israel Defense Forces of a “systematic pattern of war crime.” What does the administration say about this?

MR. SULLIVAN: So, on National Security Memorandum 20, which the President signed some weeks ago, we have a report that will be sent up to the Congress in early May. That report will analyze the elements of National Security Memorandum 20. And obviously, then, we will present the findings of that to all of you as well. And I’m not going to get ahead of that report. I think we should let them work through rigorously the analysis, which will be done on an interagency basis by the U.S. government.

And your first question was about Iran sanctions. Look, I think the moment we’re in right now that’s quite different from where we were just a few weeks ago is you’ve actually had the G7 come out together and say that we need to impose additional economic measures, additional sanctions, additional pressure on Iran for this brazen and unprecedented attack against Israel with more than 300 missiles and drones fired at Israeli territory.

The EU has moved, the UK has moved, the United States has moved, and we will continue to move. And extra authorities from Congress can help add to the — the types of forms of pressure that we can place and the type of isolation we can generate with respect to Iran, which is acting in ways that are fundamentally irresponsible and destabilizing the peace and stability in the Middle East.

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Q And then on TikTok. Now that the President has signed the bill, does the White House have a preference as to whether TikTok gets sold and remains operational in the U.S.? Or are you indifferent about whether it gets banned or sold?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Well, first of all, we’ve been very clear, members of Congress have been very clear, we do not want to see a ban. This is not about a ban. This is about divestment, selling — right? — being sold. This is about our national con- — security. This is not concerns about Americans using TikTok. This is about PRC ownership, right? This is about the control of TikTok.

And so, want to be super, super clear. And so, that’s what members of Congress moved forward with. That’s what we supported. So, we wanted to see a divestment. We want it to be — to see it being sold. And we do not — we do not seek a ban. That is not what this bill is about — or this now law is about, canceling it.

Q Thanks, Karine. You say it’s not about a ban. But the reality is — is that finding a buyer for TikTok will be incredibly difficult, and the Chinese government also could intervene and block a sale. So, if it came to it, would the administration, then, support a ban, as the legislation is written?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, here’s — here’s — I think I want to be — as it relates to China, they should allow it. Right? They should allow it to be sold. That’s what I’ll say there.

As it relates to the bill — the law now — there’s time. We got to see how this plays out. We believe that it is possible. There are already American investors who are — who are willing and are interested in buying TikTok. So, the interest is there. It’s not like there isn’t any.

And so, we’re going to see. There’s time — there’s time — there’s certainly time on the books to see how this plays out. We do not — this — this is not a ban. Again, this is about divestment. And that’s what we want to see.

Q Which American investors are interested?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I mean, you all have reported on it. There’s reports out — out there that there’s a number of interested buyers — a number of them. You guys have reported on that. I don’t have a list to share.

So, we’re going to let that process play out. But it’s been reported by all of you.

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Q And then on TikTok. Is there any expectation that China could retaliate against U.S. techni- — tech companies that are operating there?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I mean, look, I can’t speak for — for the Chi- — the Chinese government. I can’t. I mean, that’s a hypothetical. I can’t speak to that.

I can only speak to the importance of this — this law moving forward — this bill moving forward — obviously, the President signed it to- — signed today, so it’s now law — and the importance of making sure that we move forward with that divestment of TikTok.

We’re talking about national security. We’re talking about making sure we’re protecting Americans’ privacy, and that’s what this is about. And we are not talking about Americans using TikTok. That’s not what we’re — we’re looking at here.

We want to make sure that there’s a divestment, that, you know, TikTok should not be owned — or Americans should not be — should not be having to worry about using a platform that is owned by — you know, by a country that’s trying to harm us. That’s the national security concern here.

Q And will this law survive a constitutional challenge?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Look, I’m not going to speak to that. I mean, I think that’s something that, obviously, DOJ will — will deal with. I can’t speak to — to challenges. But obviously, it’s — it’s law now. So, we’re going to move forward with it.

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Source: The White House

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